


rumor has it

by bapaldeul



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Journalism, Angst if u squint, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Comedy, but not really, reporter slash journalist jihoon, rich boy but mega nice and cute boy daniel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-04 18:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12776637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bapaldeul/pseuds/bapaldeul
Summary: in which jihoon is given a tabloid article to work on but gets more than he bargained forjournalist/reporter!jihoon and daniel making the worst excuses just to see the cute journalist again





	1. murphy's law

**Author's Note:**

> had to get this au idea out of my system so here we are!
> 
> fact: i am not the angsty-est / evil nw writer ever and i'm here to prove it! :>

When Jihoon said he wanted to be a journalist – this wasn’t really what he had expected to get himself into. 

He had dreamed of this moment forever; the day he would finally be able to put his name next to a piece of writing, no matter how small it was. Jihoon would be ecstatic, over the moon, he might even shed a tear or two. He would then call Woojin, the only friend he had left in his sorry life, and proclaim he was a world-class journalist.

However, according to Murphy’s law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Instead of being given the job to rush to the scene of the newest grotesque murder case, or covering the latest trendy event in town, Jihoon has been given much, much worse.

“Do I really have to do this?” Jihoon whines as he follows Sungwoon around the news room, knowing the other man has long shut him off. Instead of paying attention to Jihoon, his manager is barking out orders to the reporters and editors – someone Jihoon should be!

“Please…” Jihoon doesn’t give up. (First rule of journalism according to Park Jihoon; never stop digging until you get what you want.)

Sungwoon sighs, stops cold in his tracks, and Jihoon walks right into him. When Jihoon shoots him an apologetic smile, Sungwoon stops glaring and crosses his arms instead.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining. For months, you’ve been begging me to let you write your own story, and now that I’ve given the chance to you, you don’t want it?”

Sungwoon is right; all the nights he spent waiting outside Sungwoon’s office were now all in vain. Jihoon waves his phone towards Sungwoon, showing him what the editors had assigned for him to work on.

“Get dirt about Seoul’s richest man, Kang Daniel?” Jihoon recites the email sarcastically, and some people turn around to look, their interest piqued just by mentioning the name ‘Kang Daniel’.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with this assignment,” Sungwoon says. “A tabloid story is still a story.”

“Half the stories in tabloids aren’t even true! They’re barely well researched on, and you know it,” Jihoon yells, stomping his feet (but not too hard, so that he doesn’t push too many of Sungwoon’s buttons today.)

“I feel insulted,” Jihoon continues, “To be assigned to write gossip about this guy I don’t even care about when I’ve been studying journalism my entire life!”

He knows he sounds like a brat right now – to be ungrateful about the opportunities being offered to him.

But really, who even reads tabloids nowadays? Only people who were thirsty for the latest (fake) gossip about the latest (useless) celebrities. In Jihoon’s world, tabloids were written purely to satisfy other’s needs to know about the latest drama.

It's neither informative nor professional; like real journalism should be.

“Fine,” Sungwoon says. “If you don’t want to write it, I’ll hand the story over to someone else who does and you can stay making morning coffee for others and taking notes in your princess notebook while following others around.”

“B-but,” Jihoon stutters. He’s torn between the devil and the deep blue sea – he’s done with “observing the work environment” for the last few months, and wants to prove himself to Sungwoon that he can be as professional as any other reporter or journalist in this room. However, writing dirt about some handsome and rich guy is not going to prove anything at the moment.

Sungwoon closes his eyes dramatically and massages his temples. “Jihoon, I know you’re passionate. And I admire that about you, plus I think you definitely have a flair for writing. If you think I’m somehow insulting your capabilities by asking you to write for a tabloid, then by all means, reject me.”

Damn, Jihoon knows he’s being guilt-tripped, but still. 

When Sungwoon sees the dilemma on Jihoon’s face, he places a reassuring hand on the younger boy’s shoulder, “Do this well. Write the best you can – and prove to us that you deserve to be writing for something more than a gossip magazine.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, Jihoon still gets guilt-tripped into standing in the main lobby of “Kangs”, a camera hung over his shoulder and documents in his hands. He doesn’t know why he bothered to prepare documents for this story – he could make up a story about Kang Daniel and people would still buy it. (You know, tabloids.)

After all, Jihoon wouldn’t be the first to cover a story on Seoul’s richest man. When he went online to do some harmless research on his “subject”, a few other headlines from competing news slash tabloid companies had popped up.

_“Kang Daniel, what secrets is he hiding?”_

_“A man of no scandals; who really is he?”_

_“Is Kang Daniel gay?”_

If it weren’t for the stories being posted in actual magazines, Jihoon would have never believed there were actual journalists out there churning out this type of trash. It sounded more like delusional fan banter over twitter than people who actually studied journalism.

The sound of tyres screeching to a halt outside the company catches Jihoon’s attention, and everyone else’s in the main lobby. A sleek, red Ferrari sits comfortably outside the main doors of the building.

Stereotypical, Jihoon thinks as he rolls his eyes. Still, he takes a quick picture of the beautiful car using his camera and jolts down some notes in his notebook. 

Jihoon watches as guards rush up to open the door for the owner of the Ferrari, and waits with bated breath for Kang Daniel to step out of the car. After all, who else would be able to make his presence known so easily other than the owner of “Kangs” himself.

Once Jihoon catches a glimpse of Kang Daniel stepping out of the driver’s seat, he jumps into action. Other than having to fight with the other reporters to get the best shot, he also has to squeeze past some of the security who have already formed a barrier around the man.

Kang Daniel is someone who makes use of his abundance of wealth well, Jihoon notes. The man is exactly how he looks like on the pictures he’d found on the internet. Kang Daniel is dressed in an eye-catching grey luxury brand suit. 

Jihoon can’t catch the expression Kang Daniel has on his face, it’s hidden by the thick pair of sunglasses covering his face from the flashes of cameras.

“Quick question Mr Kang,” a middle aged bespectacled man asks as he follows Kang Daniel through the lobby. “What comments do you have for the gay accusations from people around the world?”

As Jihoon excepts, Kang Daniel completely ignores the reporters and the following continuous stream of questions from the other reporters.

It’s amazing, how professional these journalists are acting just to get even a piece of information out of Kang Daniel. He realises that being out here is a completely different story from observing others in the news room.

“It’s a cut-throat situation,” Sungwoon had told him when he first joined the company. “Everyone is passionate, everyone wants to write the same story. How are you going to make yours the best?”

Certainly not by following the crowd, Jihoon deduces. He detaches himself from the crowd of shouting reporters and observes the situation from the side. When the reporters don’t manage to follow Kang Daniel beyond the security gates, Jihoon takes note of the lift level Kang Daniel stops at.

The lift reads 25th story.

Jihoon knows it’s the rooftop, which is strange. Shouldn’t he be going to his office? Before Jihoon can convince himself that it’s not worth it, and that he can just use the material he has for now to write a usual tabloid story, he finds an emergency door and runs up the stairs, hoping his instincts aren’t wrong this time.

By the time Jihoon reaches the 25th story, he’s convinced he’s going to die without ever writing an actual news story. His legs are burning, and he curses himself for always rejecting Woojin’s offers to go gymming with him on the weekend.

It’s the chips he’s stuffed himself with at the office as well, Jihoon reminds himself.

“No one will see us up here?” a voice penetrates through the still air and Jihoon immediately ducks down behind a piece of cardboard someone has left.

Jihoon holds his breath, not even daring to breathe for fear that he might get discovered.

‘Don’t worry,” another voice replies, and Jihoon deduces that it must be Kang Daniel speaking. “I didn’t want to be seen either, so I told my managers and body guards to leave us alone. We can do whatever we want to now.”

Jihoon’s heart starts racing because he can’t believe how he’s actually struck jackpot.

He’s here, living and breathing the same air as Kang Daniel and his unidentified partner. Suddenly, he recalls all the ridiculous headlines he’s seen online and his hands fly to his mouth in shock as he thinks, “Is Kang Daniel really gay?”

Silently, he pulls out his phone to start a new voice recording. And now, if he could just snap a picture without getting caught, Jihoon was sure he would shoot up to fame in no time, and he could achieve his dream of being a famous journalist.

Again, Murphy’s law.

Before Jihoon can realise that the two voices aren’t conversing anymore, it’s too late. A strong pair of arms pull him out of his hiding area and drag him into a darker area.

The same person holds his hand over his mouth to prevent Jihoon from screaming.

“Stop moving,” the man tells Jihoon, who is obviously freaking out because he thinks he’s going to get abducted and he’ll never see his parents or Woojin again. (No matter how much he swears he hates Woojin, he’ll cry if he never gets to see his ugly best friend again.)

“Kang Daniel?” Jihoon says, his voice muffled by the hand over his mouth. His eyes glance upwards, and oh shit, it is Kang Daniel looking back down at him and he doesn’t look the least bit happy at all to Jihoon.

“Mind explaining why you were stalking me?” Daniel asks, removing his hand from Jihoon’s mouth after making sure that the boy wasn’t going to start screaming bloody murder. He then puts his hands over his chest, looking horrified. “Are you a pervert?”

For the richest man in Seoul, Kang Daniel isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

“I am not a pervert,” Jihoon insists, still looking around for a glimpse of the man that Kang Daniel was talking to from before. If he could just get a short glance, he would be able to identify the man in no time and write the hottest story, coupled with evidence no one would be able to deny.

Unfortunately, the rooftop is empty, as if no one had been there except for Kang Daniel himself.

“I should report you to security,” Kang Daniel says, whipping out his phone.

Jihoon can’t care less about whether Kang Daniel calls security or not, then decides Sungwoon wouldn’t be happy receiving a complain letter about Jihoon trespassing into Kang Daniel’s company and snatches the phone away from Kang Daniel’s hands.

“Give that back,” Kang Daniel threatens.

“Don’t call security,” Jihoon tries to sound tough, but he’s sure he comes out more desperate than he’d meant to sound. “My manager will kill me and I might get fired.”

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you followed me up here,” Kang Daniel reasons.

“I’m sorry,” Jihoon quickly apologises. “I’m not here to trespass. I just really need to cover this story about you so that I can prove to my superiors that I should be writing for the actual paper rather than this trashy tabloid.”

Kang Daniel raises an eyebrow at Jihoon, and Jihoon stomps his foot out of habit when he’s frustrated, “I’m telling the truth! I don’t have any interest in your love or sex life. I don’t even care if you’re gay or not – it’s 2017, half the people I know aren’t straight. You wouldn’t be that relevant even if you were gay.”

Realising that he’s just insulted Kang Daniel, Jihoon stops himself before he can let his stupid mouth blabber on further.

And Kang Daniel does the strangest thing – he laughs.

“God, you have no interest in me, do you?” Daniel says between his fit of giggles. 

“I do not,” Jihoon crosses his arms. “I don’t see what’s so important about you that my superiors are making such a big fuss about it but I’m here to suck it up and do my job so that I can do better things than writing about gossip.”

Kang Daniel nods, then smiles as if he’s just thought of an amazing idea.

“I have a better deal. That’s an expensive phone, so I’m going to need it back. In return, I’ll give you a personal interview. Pictures, videos, voice recordings like the one you already have, I’ll give it to you so that you can stop stalking me.”

“I was not stalking-“ Jihoon jumps in to defend himself. Then he realises what Kang Daniel has just offered to him, “You’ll do a personal interview for me?”

“The offer will expire in the next ten seconds,” Kang Daniel starts counting down, “10… 9… 8…”

Without another moment of hesitation, Jihoon shoves the phone into Kang Daniel’s waiting hands and says, “I’ll do it!”

“Good choice,” Kang Daniel flashes an okay sign. “See you in my office in five?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huge is an understatement to describe Kang Daniel’s office. Beautiful is too generic. Jihoon had expected the richest man in Seoul to decorate his office in a more luxurious (?) way. However, he’s greeted with the opposite as a huge pool table takes up one third of the room space.

The magnificent study table is stacked with mountains of files that Jihoon guesses has to be signed by Kang Daniel himself later. Other than the table and cupboard behind it, there’s nothing in here that screams “rich man”. 

There are way too many board games to be deemed normal stacked neatly on top of a drawer.

“I get stressed sometimes,” Kang Daniel explains when he sees Jihoon looking at his board games.

“Oh,” Jihoon replies, embarrassed that he got caught staring. “Who do you play with? Your manager?”

Kang Daniel laughs again, and Jihoon wonders why this man finds everything he says funny.

“If he’s feeling up for it, we play a quick match of snakes and ladders,” Daniel says. “Most of the time, I’m stuck playing with myself. Would you like to have coffee or tea?”

“Tea is fine,” Jihoon replies as he settles down into the comfortable sofa. Kang Daniel hums and brings a cup of hot green tea for Jihoon. For himself, he prepares a cup of hot chocolate. A strange choice for a businessman like him, Jihoon observes.

“So… you want to start asking your questions?”

“Oh, right,” Jihoon remembers that he’s here for the interview. The unplanned interview, that is. He knows for a fact that Kang Daniel has never done any interviews about his personal life. The most he’s done is planned press conferences for the launch of his new company products.

However, he has no questions prepared. Who would have thought that he would be lucky (or unlucky) enough to land an interview with Kang Daniel himself?

“Um…” Jihoon looks around while his brain struggles to think of a solution. “Let me think.”

“Are the questions locked somewhere in your brain?” Daniel asks, then adds, “That’s cute.”

Jihoon chooses to ignore the last remark, thinking harmless flirting is just a thing Kang Daniel is used to. He clears his throat, and tries to remember the way to structure an interview.

Softball questions first, Jihoon reminds himself.

“For starters, could you tell me how it feels to be so young and one of the most successful people in Seoul, Mr Kang?”

Daniel answers the question without a problem, then adds, “And please just call me Daniel, it’s more comfortable that way.”

“Okay, Daniel,” Jihoon says, liking the way Daniel’s name rolls off his tongue. He then remembers that he’s writing for a tabloid, not the newspaper, and people aren’t interested in knowing about the boring stuff – they want the dirt, the trash, the gossip.

“Any reasons you haven’t gotten into any scandals with women?”

Daniel crosses his legs (God damn those are some long legs, Jihoon should have taken the chance to join the basketball team when he was younger) and frowns.

“Not really,” Daniel answers. “Should I get into one to maybe make myself more… relevant?”

Jihoon almost chokes on his tea when Daniel refrences his previous statement (that he had said in the spur of the moment, by the way). However, there is no trace of malice or sarcasm in Daniel’s voice.

“Um… that’s not for me to decide,” Jihoon says. “Next question.”

He then continues with a few other questions like “tell me about your first love”, “who are the female celebrities you have your eye on these days?”, “what about make celebrities?” and is intrigued when Daniel manages to answer them without a problem, as if he was waiting for this day to come.

He sighs, staring at the piece of blank paper in his hands. There’s really only one question he wants to find out the answer to – the answer that will answer the public’s need for dirty celebrity gossip.

“You’re going to burn a hole in the paper,” Daniel chides. “Just ask me anything. I won’t get offended.”

“You said so,” Jihoon says just to make sure, and Daniel responds with a reassuring nod.

“Are you gay?”

There’s an uncomfortable silence in the room, and Jihoon starts to think he’s crossed the line; gone too far with this question. And Daniel is going to make him delete all the recordings and pictures because he’s mad.

Murphy’s law.

Daniel smirks, and Jihoon knows he’s doomed, both in a good way and a bad way. Daniel slides over closer to Jihoon, and their legs are touching. Jihoon shivers when Daniel leans closer to his ear and whispers, “Who wants to know?”

Jihoon knows his ears are probably burning red now. “Just… the audience? I don’t know. People want to know, so i-it’s my responsibility to ask.”

“Really?” Daniel’s eyebrows furrow in suspicion. “ _You_ don’t want to know?”

“I-I don’t?” Jihoon panics. 

“I can tell you,” Daniel teases. “Not without a price, though.”

Inside, Jihoon is screaming “what the fuck!” in his head because he doesn’t remember the room being this hot when he first stepped into it. Instinctively, he squirms away from Daniel because he’s afraid the other man is too close to hear his heart beating so fast.

“I-I think I have enough material for today,” Jihoon stutters, gathering his documents hurriedly. Obviously, things go wrong and his papers fall all over the floor. Daniel starts to help Jihoon pick them up, and for just a moment, their fingers meet. (Fucking hell, Daniel has the audacity to wink at Jihoon right after he pulls away.)

When Jihoon finishes packing, he quickly bows and thanks Daniel, who is standing and waiting to see him out.

“Give me your phone,” Daniel says, holding out his hand.

“Why?” Jihoon backs away.

“Don’t journalists need to check with their sources even after the interview? I don’t want you quoting me wrongly,” Daniel smiles, as if he knows how well he’s playing with Jihoon right now.

“Oh, right,” Jihoon curses (how could he forget? Sungwoon had nagged him about this many times over. Daniel had a special talent to make Jihoon forget about all the other important things.) He hands his phone over to Daniel, and Daniel punches in his number, then uses Jihoon’s phone to call himself.

“There,” Daniel smiles proudly as he returns Jihoon the phone. “Link me the article when it comes out. Or take a picture. Or ask me out for a date, whatever you want.”

Jihoon almost trips on thin air on the way out, and pretends not to see the playful smirk on Daniel’s face.

“Thanks for the interview,” Jihoon says politely, hoping Daniel can’t see him freaking out inside. 

“No problem,” Daniel replies. “I’m always up to answer that last question that you have, just call me.”

That won’t be necessary, Jihoon thinks. He’s probably never going to see Kang Daniel again, and thank god for that. He flashes a smile to the man one last time and dashes out of the building.

 

 

 

 

Second rule of journalism according to Park Jihoon; never get too close to your interviewees. (Or never let your interviewees get too close to you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave me lots of comments and feedback?
> 
> major fluff scenes coming up so just prepare your hearts :)
> 
> thank you again for reading, take care, and see you in the next update! <3


	2. taking notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow.. thank u all for the overwhelming love on this story? it's only been like 1 chapter so far and yall are giving it so much love :(

Jisung’s (Jihoon’s editor) eyes only grow bigger as he starts flipping through Jihoon’s notes and pictures from the day before. Jihoon waits nervously in anticipation – although he’s sure he’s written a good enough story, it may not be up to Jisung’s standards. 

“Y-you actually got an interview from Kang Daniel?” Jisung asks when he puts the papers down.

“That,” Jihoon adds, “and much more. Here are the pictures and voice recordings. Is this okay? Should I have asked better questions? I wasn’t expecting an interview, so I didn’t prepare the questions at all.”

Jisung is a nice person on a daily basis; always greeting everyone with a smile in the morning (unlike a certain *Ha Sungwoon*), but he’s also heard that Jisung is very strict with the standards of articles being submitted to him, even if it’s for a tabloid.

“More than okay,” Jisung says as he looks through the pictures Jihoon took of Daniel the previous day. “How did you do it? Kang Daniel never, ever, gives out personal interviews; especially not to gossip magazines.”

Jihoon fiddles with the hem of his shirt, unsure of whether to tell his editor the entire story of how he ran up 25 stories and stole Kang Daniel’s phone just to land this interview.

“That’s besides the point,” Jisung says, waving Jihoon off although he hasn’t even said anything yet. “This is going to be a hit, everyone is going to go crazy. Good job, kiddo.”

Jihoon beams with pride – compliments do that to him. Even if it’s just a small article in a tabloid magazine, his name is still going to be printed on a piece of paper, proving how much closer he is to his dream of becoming a well-known journalist.

“Thank you, Jisung hyung,” Jihoon bows politely and skips back to his desk. He’s in a good mood the entire day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A week passes, and Jihoon forgets all about his little encounter with Kang Daniel. He’s fallen back into his mundane routine of following the other journalists around, and starts to think that the previous article was just a stroke of good luck.

Jihoon starts to get more discouraged, until Sungwoon walks up to his table one day with an expectant smile on his face. 

“Good news,” Sungwoon says in a sing-song manner. Jihoon rises from his chair excitedly, thinking that this is it. This is his first ever chance to write a proper article for the company.

Sungwoon makes sure no one is listening when he bends down to whisper into Jihoon’s ear, “We received an anonymous tip-off. Kang Daniel will be holding a private press conference for the launch of his new products today. And who else better than you to go down?”

Jihoon’s heart drops.

_Oh._

“Is this for the tabloid?” Jihoon asks hesitantly. “Again?”

He would have thought that the previous article proved to Sungwoon that he deserved to be writing for something more than a mere magazine. Unfortunately, things were just not meant to be.

“Don’t give me that face,” Sungwoon chides. “This is a golden opportunity. Even if they won’t let you in, the fact that you were there already puts us above all our competitors.”

Jihoon sighs, but nods. 

“I’ll do it, where should I go?”

This is his job – and Sungwoon is right; if he didn’t take this up, someone else would. For now, he wouldn’t be able to write for the newspapers, but at least he could contribute elsewhere. Sungwoon gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and says, “I promise it will be worth it in the future.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing about private press conferences is that Jihoon has to go to god knows where just to get some pictures and write a boring article. He doesn’t know how to get to the place using public transport (it’s not possible) so he takes a cab down instead, which costs him a whopping $20.

He enters the large building before him, and sees a few journalists already gathered in the atrium. Jihoon guesses that these journalists were invited, because they enter the theatre where the press conference is going to be held with no problems.

“Are you here for the press conference?” a burly security guard comes up to Jihoon and he freezes.

“Uh, yeah,” Jihoon panics. Sungwoon never told him about what to say should he be confronted by scary security guards. 

The security guard raises an eyebrow of doubt, and adds, “What’s your name? I have to check if you’re on the invite list – just for safety precautions.”

Jihoon knows he’s screwed. There’s no way he’s on the invite list – he’s just here to gather the latest scoop about Kang Daniel for his various fans. He could bail now, but all eyes in the room were on him and it would seriously damage his reputation (if he even had one) to run away now.

He takes in a deep breath and says, “Park Jihoon.”

The security guard nods and goes to check on the invite list while Jihoon racks his brain for an escape route without embarrassing himself. The guard walks towards him now, and Jihoon just hopes the guard doesn’t announce that he’s not invited loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Instead, the guard bows to him and says, “Park Jihoon from Wanna Magazine? I’ll show you to your seat.”

Shocked, Jihoon blinks a few times, and stands in his spot dumbfounded. There is no way Sungwoon had somehow manged to get a seat for Jihoon in this super private press conference without telling him in advance.

Still, Jihoon follows the guard inside and settles on a reserved seat near the stage. The seat even has a sticker reading, “Park Jihoon” in front of it. 

“The press conference will start soon,” the guard informs. “meanwhile, do help yourself to the refreshments at the back of the theatre.”

Jihoon thanks the guard and looks around the theatre in wonder. It’s definitely an important event, considering the luxurious and elaborate setup. Some reporters have already set up their tripods and cameras to get the best shot, and Jihoon stares pathetically at the notepad he has in his hands. He shouldn’t be comparing, Jihoon reminds himself. 

Suddenly, his stomach grumbles. He then remembers he hasn’t had any food this morning, and he was starving. 

Picking up his bag, Jihoon walks towards the buffet table which is set up at the back of the theatre just like the guard had mentioned to him earlier. The spread is impressive, and Jihoon doesn’t hesitate to dive in. 

When else will he get to experience something like this in his life?

Jihoon picks up a few sandwiches, some noodles and struggles to pour himself a drink. Before he can make a mess of himself, a hand takes his cup from him and fills it with fruit punch for him instead.

“Thank you,” Jihoon says, looking up to see who had helped him and almost loses his balance when he sees Kang Daniel staring back at him – the same smile plastered on his face.

“You’re welcome,” Daniel replies, returning the cup to Jihoon. “I was worried you weren’t going to show up.”

“You knew I was going to show up?” Jihoon asks, watching Daniel pick up a piece of sandwich in his hands and eat it whole, then dusting his hands after.

Daniel nods, “Of course. Who else could have tipped your company off and reserved a seat for the one and only Park Jihoon anyway?”

Jihoon then remembers how this all started. The anonymous tipoff. 

“That was you?” Jihoon gasps a little too loudly. Luckily, the other journalists in the theatre are too busy to notice that the main man of the press conference is making small talk with a tabloid magazine writer just behind them.

Daniel smiles proudly when Jihoon realises that he’s the anonymous caller. 

“I told them to get the cute journalist from before to come or I wouldn’t let them in.”

Jihoon proceeds to choke violently on his fruit punch, and Daniel has to pat his back a few times before he finally calms down. He holds out his hand to signal that he’s okay – not dying. All the calm composure from before is now lost, and Jihoon is sure he looks like a mess.

“T-that’s really weird,” Jihoon whispers under his breath. 

“I’ll get going now,” Daniel says, much to Jihoon’s relief. He isn’t sure how much more of a mess he can make of himself with Daniel himself around. Before Daniel turns to leave, he pats Jihoon on the shoulder and says, “Make sure to ask me lots of questions later.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later happens when all the special guests and invited reporters and journalists flock into the hall. Jihoon takes his seat beside a man not much older than him, except he has his laptop laid out in front of him. Jihoon smiles as a greeting, but the man doesn’t spare him a glance.

A round of applause ensues when Kang Daniel and his colleagues step onto the stage. Jihoon tries to get a good picture, but the tripod belonging to the man beside him blocks his view of the stage.

Jihoon hesitates, but knows Sungwoon is going to kill him if he submits half-assed photos so he taps on the man’s shoulder and says, “I’m sorry, but could you move your tripod a little? It’s kind of blocking my view.”

The man turns to glare at him, then sizes Jihoon up and says, “Go home and play, kid. I don’t have time to play with writers of a tabloid magazine right now.”

His words are a shock to Jihoon’s system, and his blood starts to boil with anger. No one except Jihoon can talk shit about his job. And he means _no one._

Jihoon decides not to argue back now, and stands up to get a better view instead. Daniel spots him and smiles right into his camera. He checks the quality, then sits back down into his seat and waits for the conference to officially begin.

Daniel introduces himself and his colleagues, then talks a little about the products he’s planning to release into the market next year. Jihoon knows he’s recording this down, but decides to take some notes too. 

It isn’t long before Jihoon finds himself daydreaming about other things. His hands are still moving, writing down some key things that Daniel mentions in his speech, but has no idea what those phrases really mean. He doesn’t mean to be rude, but the whole talk is boring him a little.

The only interesting thing to look at is Kang Daniel.

The way he talks – confident but not condescending. Jihoon has no idea what he’s talking about, but the way Daniel talks about his products is captivating. He even manages to draw Jihoon’s attention to the screen, which is showing some figures Jihoon doesn’t even understand.

And his stage presence – is enchanting. Respect for Daniel starts to build inside of Jihoon; he isn’t just Seoul’s richest man, he’s a successful businessman as well. 

The theatre explodes in applause, which snaps Jihoon out of his daydream. He looks down at his notes to see what he’s taken down and yelps in surprise.

 

_Kang Daniel is cute! (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)_

_Kang Daniel is quite handsome~ ⸜( ˙˘˙)⸝_

_Daniel? Daniel. Kang Daniel._

 

Quickly, he crumples up the paper before anyone can see what he’s written down. He feels his face burning up even though the air conditioner is blowing right at him.

_Did I really write that?_

Jihoon uncrumples the paper slowly just to make sure that he isn’t seeing things, and snaps it shut when he sees the same phrases in his writing appear again. 

Shit, shit, shit, shit, Jihoon chants, giving himself a mental slap. Daydreaming was acceptable, given that he had no knowledge on the subject. Writing love notes about Kang Daniel was another thing all together. He stuffs the paper into his bag and tries to concentrate on the Q&A session instead.

He’s never been at a Q&A session in his life, but he’s heard about it from his colleagues.

_It’s a bloodbath,_ Sungwoon says.

And Jihoon realises that Sungwoon isn’t lying. Everyone, and Jihoon means _everyone_ is raising their hands and hoping to get picked to have their question answered. 

“Uh, that man over there,” Daniel’s voice booms through the microphone, pointing in Jihoon’s direction. He then realises Daniel is talking to the man beside him, who has his hand raised.

The man stands up proudly and adjusts his spectacles.

“From my understanding, this is a formal and private press conference, am I right?” the man asks, and Jihoon detests his tone. Maybe he’s being biased from before, but he couldn’t care less about being petty towards this man who had insulted his job before.

“That is right,” Daniel replies. 

“I would like some insight as to why a tabloid writer was invited. If I’m right, you don’t usually like to associate yourself with magazines of any sorts. Is there a reason a writer of a gossip magazine was invited? Are you not afraid that they will twist your words just for pure entertainment?” the man asks, making sure to maintain eye contact with Daniel. By this time, all eyes in the theatre in the room are on Jihoon and he can hear the hushed whispers between the other journalists in the room.

Jihoon feels heat rush to his face and avoids looking at other people out of sheer embarrassment.

There is silence on Daniel’s side, then he asks, “Is that a genuine question? Or a personal attack?”

The man looks thrown off, and stutters, “It’s a question, of course.”

Daniel sighs, gets off his seat and walks towards Jihoon’s side of the theatre and stops right by the edge of the stage so that he’s speaking directly to the man.

“I don’t know which company you’re from, but it must be one that doesn’t teach you basic respect or professionalism. Whether you’re writing for a newspaper, a magazine, or your own personal blog, I expect you to be professional and respectful to others,” Daniel says, and the theatre falls to a deafening silence.

Then, Daniel makes direct eye-contact with Jihoon, who has already slid down as low as possible into his seat, trying to avoid stares from other people.

“I would prefer for everyone to respect each other’s profession. And to answer your question: No, I am not afraid of this journalist twisting my words, because I trust him. And I’m not sure if I trust you, now that you have displayed such amateurish behaviour in front of me. Thank you. Next question, preferably from someone else, please.”

Jihoon’s heart almost bursts in that moment because he’s both touched and thankful that out of all the people in the room, Kang Daniel is the one who stood up for him.

“Thank you,” he mouths to Daniel, who nods at him in acknowledgement before turning to the next person with a question. 

The press conference draws to an end, and the emcee is asking around for any last questions. Jihoon has to give his full respect to Daniel – he managed to answer all the questions patiently and professionally.

“Are there really no other questions? Did everyone have a turn?” Daniel asks.

“What about you, Jihoon? I don’t think you’ve asked me anything yet.”

As much as Jihoon wants to thank Daniel for speaking up for him earlier, he curses at the attention being drawn to him again. He can hear the burning questions in the minds of the other journalists on site, _“How the hell does Kang Daniel know the name of the tabloid writer?”_

But the way Daniel asks him is so endearing, so inviting and Jihoon can’t reject him. 

“I-I have one question, if that’s okay,” Jihoon begins nervously, conscious of all the stares on him now. 

“Of course,” Daniel replies, encouraging him. 

“This question doesn’t really relate to the product launches you talked about. But I was just wondering if you’re involved in any charity projects at the moment,” Jihoon asks. When there is silence, he wonders if he’s asked the wrong question; like he may be implying that Daniel wasn’t doing any good with his wealth.

Daniel’s toothy smile convinces him otherwise, “I’m so glad you asked. There’s an orphanage I’m sponsoring right now…”

When Daniel finishes talking, there’s a brighter smile on his face than before – as if he’d enjoyed answering this question more than the others.

“Thank you,” Jihoon says when Daniel finishes.

_Both for answering and standing up for me._

Daniel seems to know what he’s thinking about, and he replies, “I should be thanking you instead.”

The event then ends, and everyone flocks out of the theatre, all eager to return back to the newsroom as quickly as possible to be the first to churn out the latest news about Kang Daniel. Jihoon isn’t an exception, but finds himself the last in line for a cab and taps his foot impatiently on the ground when the journalist in front of him manages to get in the last cab.

“Jihoon,” a voice calls out his name, and Jihoon turns to see Kang Daniel; no longer in his suit from before but instead, in a comfortable grey hoodie approaching him.

“Oh, hey,” Jihoon replies. 

“Can’t get a cab back? This place is really out of the way, isn’t it?” Daniel asks, looking around for any taxis in the area. Unfortunately, there is none.

Jihoon rubs his neck shyly, “Yeah, it is. Don’t worry, there should be one passing by soon.”

“No, I’ll bring you back to your company. That’s where you’re going, right?” 

“Yeah,” Jihoon says, then stops himself. “No, that’s fine. You don’t have to, I’ll get back alone.”

Daniel waves his protests away and starts leading Jihoon away with a grip on his wrist, “Just let me bring you back, it’s the least I can do.”

In the end, Jihoon gives in and slides in next to Daniel in the passenger seat. Daniel’s Ferrari is large, and Jihoon has never sat in a car with this much leg space. He’s embarrassed to say this but the soft seats does cup his butt nicely. If he wasn’t sitting next to Daniel, he would have fallen asleep already.

“Thanks for bringing me back,” Jihoon says once they set off. “And for just now.”

“No,” Daniel replies, “I should be more thankful to you. I’m just… really thankful that you were here today.”

Jihoon doesn’t know what to say, and keeps his eyes on the road in front of them. (and he tries his best to ignore the wild pounding in his chest.)

“I was so nervous,” Daniel continues when he realises Jihoon isn’t going to say anything. “I was super stressed about this press conference.”

“You did really good,” Jihoon assures, remembering how natural Daniel sounded on stage.

Daniel manages to tear his eyes off the road when they stop at a red light and turns to look at Jihoon. “You really think so?”

When Jihoon answers, “Yeah”, it brings an even brighter smile to Daniel’s face. 

“That’s good,” Daniel breathes a sigh of relief. “Seeing you in the crowd of unfamiliar faces made me relax a bit. No one knows this but I have major stage fright, I freak out whenever I have to do some sort of public speaking. But for my job, I have to.”

It seems almost impossible that a person like Daniel exuding such natural confidence experiences stage fright as well, Jihoon thinks. 

“You did super, duper, well,” Jihoon says. 

“Compliment me more,” Daniel encourages, grinning so hard his skin might tear.

Jihoon crosses his arms, “That’s all you get today. Don’t get too conceited.”

Daniel chuckles, making Jihoon smile as well. Maybe it’s from watching too many dramas with Woojin, but Daniel is totally unlike the rich guy Jihoon thought he would be. He isn’t cocky, arrogant or ignorant.

When they reach the company, Daniel even gets of his seat to see Jihoon out.

“Thank you for today,” Daniel says. “I do hope we meet again soon.”

“Of course,” Jihoon nods his head enthusiastically. (he doesn’t say it, but he’s looking forward to their next meeting as well.) He turns away first, hoping to get the papers to Sungwoon and Jisung as soon as possible before Daniel calls him back.

“Hey! You dropped something, Jihoon!” Daniel yells when he’s halfway up the stairs. “It looks like your notes, and- oh.”

Jihoon’s heart drops even before he sees what Daniel is holding in his hands. He’s just hoping that it’s not _that_ thing from before. 

His hopes are crushed when he sees Daniel scrutinizing the crumpled piece of paper in his hands that Jihoon had stuffed carelessly into his bag later. He flies down the stairs, willing Daniel not to read his useless scribbles.

From the fucking smile Daniel has on his face when Jihoon snatches the paper out of his face, he knows Daniel has seen it.

“That’s- nothing,” Jihoon gasps, crushing the paper and putting it into his jacket pocket. He should have burned it when he had the chance.

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” Daniel smirks, and Jihoon feels and part of him die inside.

 

_Kang Daniel is cute! (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)_

_Kang Daniel is quite handsome~ ⸜( ˙˘˙)⸝_

 

It definitely isn’t nothing, but Jihoon isn’t going to say that. In fact, he’s hoping to find a hole nearby to jump into and bury himself in forever.

“Your handwriting is cute,” Daniel laughs, “Just like its owner.”

Suddenly this whole day seems like a mistake and Jihoon can’t do anything except bury his face into his hands. 

“I was daydreaming,” Jihoon explains, then realise he isn’t going anywhere with these useless excuses. After all, they all lead to him somehow writing down his thoughts on paper. Some very embarrassing thoughts.

“It’s fine,” Daniel replies, still smiling. “It’s nice to know that someone cute thinks I’m cute as well.”

At this point Jihoon is convinced his face is beet red. 

“I should leave,” Jihoon stutters. 

“Cool,” Daniel replies. He then gestures to Jihoon’s phone in his hands, “Call me sometime. Let’s hang out.”

Jihoon forces a smile, “Okay.” 

In his mind, he’s screaming, “Not okay!”

Still, he manages to wave at Daniel before disappearing inside the company and runs to Sungwoon’s office. His manager is waiting for him with an expectant smile on his face.

“I didn’t expect him to see you back,” Sungwoon raises an eyebrow.

“You knew!” Jihoon half yells. “You should have told me he was the one who invited me, then maybe I wouldn’t have been so caught off guard.”

Sungwoon puts up his hands in surrender, “If the richest and most influential man in Seoul tells me to send him the cute journalist from before, who am I to reject him?”

Jihoon sighs and buries himself into Sungwoon’s office couch.

“The pictures are nice,” Sungwoon comments. “He’s looking directly into your lens. He must really think you’re cute. I wonder if he knows you’re a little thief who steals my food out of the pantry as well.”

Jihoon opens his mouth to defend himself then stops. (It’s true, he does steal Sungwoon’s food that is obviously labelled ‘Do not eat!’, but only because Sungwoon brings the best snacks from home. Sometimes, he gives his manager a break and takes Jisung’s food instead.)

“I deserve to die,” Jihoon groans.

“So,” Sungwoon says, putting down the papers. “What base are you guys currently at?”

“Hyung!” Jihoon protests. 

“First?” Sungwoon asks, then adds, “Considering how hard he’s pinning for you, it won’t be long till you guys make it official. Just don’t forget about the man who gave you your first job. I might die a lonely single man but I won’t die a lonely, single, and broke man.”

Jihoon stands up to leave Sungwoon’s office – his manager has a habit of rambling too much if no one stops him.

“No one is pinning for anyone,” Jihoon says through clenched teeth. “Bye, hyung.”

Jihoon feels his face flush again when he hears Sungwoon making kissy noises behind him.

Sungwoon and his extreme imaginations. If his manager was so excited about “pinning” he should have become a scriptwriter instead of a journalist. His handphone dings, signalling a new message. 

 

_From: Kang Daniel_  
_Figured you wouldn’t text me first, so I’ll take the lead. What time do you finish tomorrow?_

 

Jihoon can almost hear Sungwoon’s laughter from behind the closed doors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the slow updates :(
> 
> still hope you guys enjoyed this chapter <3
> 
> take care and see you all at the next one much love to all of u lovely people u are very loved by me!!


	3. first emotions of love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mid-week update! :D

Jihoon does feel guilty when he leaves Daniel’s numerous messages on read. His first excuse is that he’s busy, which he is. Sungwoon has since given him a few small assignments to work on, and although it isn’t much, it keeps Jihoon happier than digging for gossip. 

His next reasoning is – what next? What if he texted Daniel back, and they met? Would they become friends, or something between acquaintances and friends?

It’s late at night when he receives another text from Daniel.

 

_From: Kang Daniel_  
_I’m waiting outside your company. If you’re still here come out._

 

Jihoon looks out his window, and yes – Daniel is waiting outside. He’s standing outside his red Ferrari and leaning against his car, looking up at the building like he’s looking out for Jihoon. He ducks under the window and wills Daniel to go away.

His handphone lights up again, and his heart does a double back flip when he sees that the message is from Daniel again.

 

_From: Kang Daniel_  
_Your manager told me you’re in. I just want to see u for 5 minutes. Don’t ignore me, please?_

 

Other than the fact that he’s mad that Sungwoon blatantly sold him out, he’s mad at the fact that he complies immediately. It’s not like he was ignoring Daniel, he was merely avoiding any chance of contact with the other man.

It’s about time for him to return home anyway before Woojin starts yelling at him for getting home so late every day. (his friend says it’s because Jihoon always wakes him up when he gets back late but Jihoon knows that Park Woojin is just a macho who won’t admit that he cares about Jihoon’s safety.)

Daniel immediately catches a glimpse of Jihoon when he walks out of the building, and jogs over. 

“Hey,” Jihoon greets him as casually as possible, as if he isn’t aware that Daniel has been trying to meet up with him for the past week. 

It’s dark and Jihoon isn’t wearing his glasses, but he can still see the frown that is present on Daniel’s face. 

“You came down,” Daniel says plainly. “I was going to give up and go home again today.”

“Again?” Jihoon repeats, “You’ve been here more than once?”

Daniel plays with the sleeves of his black hoodie, looks down at the floor and mumbles, “Well, you weren’t answering my messages so I wasn’t sure if you even wanted to see me.”

“I-I got really busy, I’m sorry,” Jihoon quickly apologises. He feels like he’s made Daniel waste too much time, on Jihoon. He isn’t worthy of all this, and he doesn’t understand why someone like Daniel has to keep chasing after himself.

“It’s fine,” Daniel manages a small smile, which breaks Jihoon’s fragile heart even more. “At least I saw you today. Have you eaten? Can I bring you home today? It’s really late, and it’s dangerous outside.”

Magically, all of Jihoon’s doubts and insecurities from before disappear. He doesn’t know where this is going, but he honestly couldn’t care less.

 

 

_He knows he does feel some sort of way for Daniel._

_And Daniel does feel some sort of way for him._

 

 

“Okay,” Jihoon agrees and nods. He feels guilty for making Daniel wait for so long, because his hands are cold when their fingers brush against each other. “I’m hungry, can we go somewhere to eat?”

Daniel beams, and pulls Jihoon closer to him by the shoulder, whispering, “You’re so warm. And yes, we can go somewhere to eat. What are you craving?”

“Udon,” Jihoon smiles, sliding into the passenger seat. It’s just like how he remembered it to be. He’s giddy from happiness when Daniel starts the engine, and they speed off into the night.

They go to a nearby small store that sells udon that Jihoon recommends, and the kind old lady there delivers their hot bowls of noodles in 5 minutes. Jihoon digs in, and Daniel follows soon after. Pretty soon, the small shop is only filled with the slurping of two very hungry boys.

“Feel better?” Daniel asks as he watches Jihoon drink up all his soup.

“Much better,” Jihoon affirms. His stomach feels warm and he can feel his eyelids wanting to close. He tries not to show his exhaustion, especially when Daniel is doing him a favour by treating him to dinner.

“Good,” Daniel smiles, then his expression becomes serious. “Now we can talk about why you’ve been avoiding my messages for a week.”

Jihoon was wrong, Daniel was not going to let this go. He sighs, and says, “I said I was really busy.”

He knows Daniel doesn’t buy it. Jihoon himself doesn’t feel convinced.

“Jihoon.” When Daniel says his name, Jihoon feels like he’s going to melt into a pool of mixed feelings. “Tell me the truth. Tell me what you’re really thinking.”

Maybe it’s the exhaustion taking over, or the way Daniel can somehow convince Jihoon to do things he doesn’t want to. Maybe it’s the magic of being out late at night with someone he barely knows but feels an attraction to, but Jihoon lets his words spill.

“I don’t know who you really are. Sure, you’re Kang Daniel, businessman and richest man in Seoul. And sometimes, you’re just Daniel – a man I don’t know what to feel about. I don’t know what to expect out of you wanting to hang out with me.”

Jihoon gulps, not knowing how to continue.

“I don’t know who you really are.”

When Daniel stares at him with those intense eyes, Jihoon is terrified. Not of Daniel, but where his feelings might take him. Kang Daniel is beyond him, and a rich businessman like him is never supposed to be anything more than acquaintances with a mere journalist like Jihoon.

“Then let me show you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel takes Jihoon back home after dinner, even though Jihoon insists that he’s not tired. (the dark circles under your eyes are forming as we speak, Daniel says.) They don’t talk much on the way, instead choosing to let the music on the radio fill the silence for them.

He sends Jihoon to the doorstep, and Jihoon prays that Woojin doesn’t step outside. It’s past midnight, so his friend is probably in deep sleep.

“Thank you for dinner,” Jihoon says. He means it, because he hasn’t had a proper meal for a while now. Most of his meals are rushed, mostly unfinished if he has to rush to wherever Sungwoon tells him to go.

“You’re welcome,” Daniel replies. “I’ll watch you go inside, then I’ll leave.”

Jihoon almost swoons, he’s lucky that it’s dark right now because he’s sure as hell that his cheeks are flushed. 

Daniel looks striking tonight, although he’s not as dressed up as you would expect a rich business man to be. He’s wearing a simple shirt with a denim jacket over, and the only sign of his exceptional wealth is the bright red Ferrari beside him. 

And Jihoon is falling.

Hard.

Jihoon’s stuck at what he should do to bid Daniel goodbye. A wave? Would that be too enthusiastic of him? He couldn’t possibly hug -

A pair of strong arms wrap around Jihoon’s waist even before he can let his thoughts wander some more. It makes his heart race even faster when Daniel’s shoulder is just at the right height for him to rest his chin on.

Okay, so hugging was a green light between them now.

“Is this okay?” Daniel whispers into his ear, making his hair stand. (in a good way)

He nods into the crook of Daniel’s neck – Daniel smells so good. Like a balance between peaches and hot chocolate. (it’s a strange combination, but Jihoon thinks it matches Daniel perfectly.)

Suddenly, the house lights up and they part almost immediately. Jihoon had almost totally forgotten about Woojin; did he see anything? Or everything?

“I gotta go,” Jihoon says, sneaking another glance back to make sure Woojin isn’t staring at them through the window or something.

Daniel chuckles, nods, and willingly steps away from Jihoon. It’s such a waste of a beautiful night like this to have their moment last only for a few seconds. 

“Text me back this time,” Daniel says as Jihoon fishes out his keys from his pockets. 

“I will,” Jihoon assures before waving one last goodbye before disappearing into the house. 

Jihoon doesn’t dare look back at Daniel again, he’s afraid he wouldn’t be able to leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon comes face to face with Woojin when he enters the house. He yelps out of surprise, and Woojin almost drops the cup he’s holding in his hand.

“What the fuck?” Woojin cusses while holding a hand dramatically to his chest.

Jihoon’s heart is beating wildly as well, though he’s sure it isn’t just from the shock his friend just gave him. 

“Well, why are you standing in the kitchen like that?” Jihoon snaps back.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I got up to make myself some hot milk. Then you, Mr oh so famous journalist, barged into the room and scared both me and yourself,” Woojin explains calmly while taking a sip of his milk.

Jihoon doesn’t argue – he hates it when Woojin explains things to him so calmly it makes it seem like he was overreacting before. He takes off his coat and throws it onto the sofa, hoping he’ll somehow remember to bring it to work with him the next morning.

Without even taking off his shoes, he sprawls onto the sofa, exhaustion taking over his body. Woojin only observes the scene with an amused expression on his face.

“Why are you back so late?” Woojin asks, helping Jihoon hang up his cost neatly. (he would argue that he was petty about cleanliness but Jihoon knew his best friend did care about him.)

“Work,” Jihoon groans into the sofa.

_And Kang Daniel._

“Your manager giving you problems?” Woojin probes.

“Not really,” Jihoon admits. As much as he rants to Woojin about his manager, Sungwoon is a good person that has looked out for Jihoon since his first day at work. Most of the time, Jihoon attributes his manager’s grumpy attitude to not having the time to date.

“Hm,” Woojin muses.

Jihoon barely drags himself off the sofa. “I’m going to take a shower, wake me up tomorrow if you see me lying in bed at 7am,” he says.

“Sure!” Woojin calls out, and Jihoon senses the malice in his voice.

He turns around, pointing an accusing finger at Woojin, “In a civilised manner, thank you. The next time you wake me up with an ice bucket I’m moving out.”

“You’ve been saying that for the past 3 years, Park,” Woojin retorts. “Yet here you are.”

Jihoon slams his bedroom door to show Woojin that he really means it. (he probably doesn’t)

He prepares to take a shower when a text from Daniel comes after forever.

 

_From: Kang Daniel_  
_Sweet dreams! Don’t let the bed bugs bite._

 

He remembers his promise to return Daniel’s messages. Honestly, he’s more than happy to not have to pretend to be busy avoid Daniel anymore. Somehow, he feels more assured than before.

 

_To: Kang Daniel_  
_You too :) thank you for dinner again._

When he returns after a warm shower, he’s excited to see Daniel’s name appearing in his notifications again. 

 

_From: Kang Daniel_  
_Anything for you._

 

The message only contains three words, but they’re enough to send Jihoon into a state of bliss. The ends of his lips can’t help but curl upwards, and starts screaming into his pillow. Jihoon thinks his screams are muffled until Woojin knocks on his door and he scrambles to his feet.

“It’s 1am and we have thin walls,” Woojin says, deadpanned. “Can you please shut up?”

“Sorry,” Jihoon quickly apologises, embarrassed that he had to get caught by Woojin. “The drama I was watching was really cute.”

Woojin only shakes his head, “This is why you can’t get up in the morning.”

Luckily, Woojin leaves him alone for the rest of the night, and Daniel doesn’t send Jihoon another message, allowing him to have a peaceful sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The atmosphere of the newsroom is exceptionally calm today. Usually, Sungwoon would be there extra early to start assigning the reporters to the newest stories to cover. 

The eerie smile that Sungwoon sends to Jihoon when he enters the newsroom sends chills down to his bones. Jihoon checks his watch, and he’s only a minute late.

“Good morning, Jihoon,” Sungwoon says.

“Hi?” Jihoon replies cautiously. It’s not that Sungwoon is a rude person, but he’s never one to greet people with a smile in the morning. In fact, there’s an unspoken rule in the newsroom that one should never approach Sungwoon in the morning unless absolutely necessary.

The several journalists and reporters in the room eye Jihoon curiously, and he wonders if he’s done anything wrong. 

“Is something up?” Jihoon whispers to Jinyoung, his colleague who started working here around the same time as he did.

Even Jinyoung has a knowing smile on his face when he says, “I think you should know better than us, hyung.”

Jihoon doesn’t know why everyone here speaks to him in riddles. For god’s sake, they write news, not storybooks. He chooses to ignore the stares thrown at him by everyone in the news room and retreats to his desk as quickly as possible.

It’s when Jihoon walks nearer to his desk that he sees a large bouquet of flowers lying on his table. He hasn’t seen this type of flower in his life – but the name of flower isn’t the biggest elephant in the room.

He knows all the eyes in the newsroom are on him when he picks up the bouquet. 

There’s a card under the bouquet of flowers as well, and Jihoon’s hands unconsciously shake when he opens the card. 

 

_Purple lilacs; first emotions of love_  
_\- KDN_

 

Jihoon quickly shuts the card and looks around. Sure enough, everyone is stealing glances at him even though they’re pretending to do something else. Sungwoon flashes him a thumbs up from across the room and Jihoon glares at him.

As if on cue, Jihoon’s phone beeps – he has a new message.

Daniel’s name appears again, just as Jihoon expects.

 

_From: Kang Daniel_  
_Did you receive the flowers?_

 

Jihoon is sure his heart is going to jump out of his chest when he reads the message. Without thinking, he dials Daniel’s number and runs to somewhere private; but it doesn’t help when Sungwoon calls out, “Lover boy!” after him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I wasn’t expecting you to call me,” Daniel says as soon as he picks up the phone. Maybe it’s because it’s early in the morning, or Jihoon’s mind is playing tricks on him, but Daniel’s voice sounds deeper. 

Jihoon chooses to ignore his meaningless observation, and replies, “I just wanted to thank you for the flowers. They’re really pretty.”

He can hear papers being flipped through the phone and asks, “Oh, are you at work now? I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“You aren’t,” Daniel assures. “I just came in. By the way, did you read the card?”

Jihoon gulps. 

“Y-yeah I did.”

_Purple lilacs, first emotions of love._

Jihoon can’t figure out if this is a genuine confession from Daniel; or just another sweet remark the other man casually throws around. 

“I uh…” Jihoon continues. He plays with the hem of his shirt as he contemplates on whether to ask his next question, but decides to go ahead anyway. “Do you want to meet me for dinner tonight?”

“Tonight?” Daniel repeats, then the line goes silent and Jihoon can only hear the flipping of papers in the background. He’s probably checking his schedule, Jihoon infers.

“I have to finish up work in the office till late at night,” Daniel reports, the disappointment evident in his voice. “I’m sorry, how about tomorrow?”

Jihoon doesn’t know if he’ll have the same courage tomorrow as today, but it can’t be helped.

“That’s fine,” Jihoon says. “You should go, I don’t want to interrupt your work.”

“Okay,” Daniel tries his best to sound cheerful. “Have fun at work.”

The line goes dead, and Jihoon sighs.

“Not today, I guess,” Jihoon says to himself before putting the phone back in his pocket. 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon can’t help but let his thoughts drift to Daniel when he’s eating dinner with Woojin that night. He wonders if Daniel is a workaholic, and if he takes his meals regularly.

“Get a grip,” Jihoon mentally reminds himself.

His gaze trails to the bouquet of purple lilacs on the table in their living room. He’d brushed Woojin’s questions off – he said he’d picked them up on the way home from the florist because he thought they would brighten up their house.

Little did Woojin know.

Jihoon didn’t mean to be clingy, especially when he and Daniel weren’t in any special relationship.

_Yet._

Daniel hadn’t send him any messages the entire day. Usually, he would get a string of messages from Daniel during lunch time, or when he got off work. Today, he had none of those.

Jihoon was starting to worry more.

“I’m done,” Jihoon says, shoving the last spoonful of rice into his mouth before returning to the kitchen. 

There’s leftover rice in the rice cooker when Jihoon checks, and decides to do something he’s never done before.

Cook.

To give Woojin credit, his friend was a way better cook than he was as a companion. Jihoon never had to worry about going hungry when he lived with Woojin – as much as he hated to admit it, Woojin did make a mean omelette. (it wasn’t much, but trust Jihoon; when you’re hungry, Woojin’s mean omelette hits the spot harder than you think it would.)

And so, Jihoon rarely touched the fridge unless it was to take out the ice-cream he had bought the day before. He never turned the stove on unless it was to boil himself a pack of ramen.

But love (okay, Jihoon wouldn’t say it was love yet, _but still_ ) makes you do stupid things. 

“What are you doing?” Woojin screams when he walks into Jihoon trying to fry an egg. 

“Cooking, can’t you see?” Jihoon tries his very best to sound sarcastic, but it sounds more pathetic because he is messing up a fried egg. To be fair, the egg was cooked nicely, he just wanted to make it into a heart shape; and obviously, that did not turn out well.

Woojin snatches the spatula away from Jihoon and takes over, mumbling something along the lines of, “You’re going to burn the house down one day I swear to god.”

When Woojin finishes with the egg, Jihoon tries to place it nicely onto the lunchbox of rice he’d already prepared at the kitchen counter. Again, he fails terribly and the yolk bursts, flowing all over the rice and staining it yellow.

Jihoon can only hope Daniel likes him enough to overlook the disaster that is this lunchbox.

“Do we have any more sausages?” Jihoon asks. He’d hate to trouble Woojin, but as much as he tries to reason with his conscience, rice and a fried egg isn’t the most nutritious meal.

“Yeah,” Woojin nods. “But I’m not helping you until you tell me who you’re making this for.”

“Jisung,” is the first name that rolls off Jihoon’s lips. “My editor. He’s working till really late tonight. He was the one who helped me with my other works. I'm bringing it over to thank him.”

Woojin raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything. (Jihoon is grateful that his mother made him take that acting course back in high school. Needless to say, it didn’t last long but it did leave Jihoon with some tips he needed to get out of emergency situations like this one.)

“Done,” Woojin announces as he neatly arranges the sausages in the lunchbox. Then he adds, “Wait.”

Woojin opens the fridge again and takes out a jar of kimchi Jihoon never knew they had and puts some into the lunchbox as well.

“Hope your editor likes this,” Woojin says, and the way his friend emphasises on the word ‘editor’ makes Jihoon think that he hasn’t really fooled Woojin at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon taps his foot impatiently as he waits for an answer from the front desk of “Kangs”. It’s hard to believe that not long ago, he was just another journalist trying to get the latest scoop of Seoul’s richest man.

“Mr Kang says that your visit is approved,” the nice-looking lady at the front desk informs Jihoon. Another young man comes to Jihoon then, and escorts Jihoon upstairs.

The lift stops at the 20th floor, and Jihoon easily finds his way to Daniel’s office. He’s been here before, but in totally different circumstances.

Jihoon knocks once, and prepares to knock a second time when the doors fly open and reveal Daniel waiting for him with open arms.

Without a second thought, Jihoon lets himself fall into Daniel’s embrace.

_They’re only does this once, but why does it feel so natural?_

“Today must be my lucky day,” Daniel comments. “You called me, then personally came to my office? If this is a dream, please don’t wake me.”

Jihoon lets out a laugh at Daniel’s dramatic reaction. Then, he remembers what he came here for.

Jihoon lets go of Daniel, to which he responds with a disappointed groan.

“I brought you dinner,” Jihoon says, holding up the bag in his hand. “I didn’t know if you ate yet, so I whipped something up.”

Technically, Woojin did. But Jihoon isn’t going to let his friend take the credit this time.

Daniel’s smile is dazzling, even more so when he looks so genuinely happy. “You brought me dinner? God, I could cry right now.”

Daniel leads Jihoon to the table by his arm, and sits down close to him, their bodies very obviously touching. 

“Don’t you sit there?” Jihoon asks, pointing to the other chair where Daniel sat the previous time when Jihoon had interviewed him.

“I’m sitting here today,” Daniel insists, and scoots even closer to Jihoon. “Come on, show me what you brought. I’m so excited, I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in ages.”

Jihoon finds it cute that Daniel resembles a puppy when he’s excited. Well, not so much a puppy because of his size, maybe a big, fluffy dog would be a better representation.

Hesitantly, he removes a cover of the lunchbox. Other than the egg that Jihoon destroyed, he has to admit that Woojin did do a good job. 

“Woah,” Daniel gushes, his eyes sparkling with glee. 

“Eat up,” Jihoon encourages, passing Daniel his cutlery. Daniel doesn’t have to be told twice, and immediately starts shoving food into his mouth without any breaks.

“Slow down, you’ll choke,” Jihoon warns. His worst fears are confirmed – Daniel looks like he hasn’t eaten all day.

When Daniel wipes the lunchbox clean, he rests his head on Jihoon’s shoulder and closes his eyes.

“Did you not eat at all today?” Jihoon chides.

Daniel nods sleepily against his shoulder, “Too busy,” he mumbles. “Too much work, I couldn’t find the time.”

Jihoon frowns and makes Daniel sit up right. He faces Daniel directly, “Is work stressing you out? I know you work hard, but you have to take your meals.”

Daniel smiles, but it’s a sad one. “I’m so tired. Tired of work, tired of everything. Tired of pretending like I’m as perfect as everyone thinks I am.”

It’s then that Jihoon realises that the richest man of Seoul does have his own difficulties as well, and it breaks his heart to see Daniel working so hard to meet the unrealistic expectations of people who don’t even know him.

Jihoon unconsciously cups Daniel’s face in his hands, “You don’t have to try so hard, okay? You’re doing amazing now.”

Daniel nods and places Jihoon’s hands around his waist instead and cuddles closer to Jihoon.

“I am not your pillow,” Jihoon sighs when Daniel drapes his legs over Jihoon’s as well. 

“Just for five minutes,” Daniel pleads, his eyes already closed. 

Jihoon relents, and pats Daniel’s back like he would to a baby to help him sleep.

Just when he thinks that Daniel is fast asleep, he mumbles, “I really, really like you, Park Jihoon.” It’s like a shock to his system – to hear those very words come out of Daniel’s mouth.

Jihoon runs his fingers through Daniel’s soft hair; and wonders if this is what he really wants.

_Yes, he wants this._

_He wants Daniel._

“I really like you too,” Jihoon whispers as he glances down at Daniel, who is lying down on his shoulder.

Daniel is already fast asleep, looking even more beautiful than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so happy to see the nielwink tag flourishing :>
> 
> anyway, thank u all for the nice comments you guys leave me ugh i know i say this a lot but i'm really thankful for each and every kudos, comment or bookmark you guys leave me ;-;
> 
> please take care till my next update, stay healthy and happy yall! xoxo


	4. rocky road

It’s only when a certain somebody stirs next to him that Jihoon’s eyes flutter open and he finds himself in an unfamiliar room. He blinks, looking around, mind still hazy from his nap and finally remembers that he’s in Daniel’s office.

Jihoon must have fallen asleep as well, because when he looks at the clock it shows a quarter past midnight, and Daniel is still passed out on his shoulder, mumbling something incoherent under his breath.

He has half a mind not to wake Daniel up, he looks too peaceful when he’s asleep. Jihoon then convinces himself that Daniel probably has a comfortable bed waiting for him at home, and it’s not good for him to stay out too late when they both have work tomorrow morning.

“Hey, Daniel,” Jihoon says, shaking Daniel’s arm softly. Daniel must have been exhausted, because it takes Jihoon a few more shakes for Daniel to finally open his eyes.

“What time… is it?” Daniel mumbles, rubbing his eyes. “I have work to complete.”

Even though that’s what Daniel claims, he doesn’t remove his grip around Jihoon’s arm. Jihoon has to pry Daniel off him and says, “No more work for you today. You are going home to sleep this instant.”

Daniel is surprisingly compliant and nods before standing up, stretching to wake himself up completely.

“I’ll drive you home,” he tells Jihoon, grabbing the keys from his shelf.

“You don’t have to,” Jihoon protests.

“Hush,” Daniel puts a finger to Jihoon’s lips. “I’m driving you home, and that’s that.”

Daniel tidies the files on his tables, shuts down his laptop and makes sure that everything is in place before ushering Jihoon out of the room, locking up behind him. Everyone has long gone home, and the building is eerily quiet.

“Do you usually go home this late?” Jihoon asks, eyeing the dark rooms they pass by.

“Yes,” Daniel answers, waving goodbye to a security guard at the entrance. “It feels nice having someone worry about me, but I’m fine. I function best under pressure.”

Jihoon’s eyebrows furrow together in worry. He decides not to pry further, choosing to respect Daniel’s decisions. After all, he knew himself best, right?

“Thank you for bringing me dinner tonight,” Daniel says when they get into the car. “It made my night.”

“Just your night?” Jihoon asks with a teasing smile. 

Daniel puts a hand to his mouth dramatically, as if he’d said something wrong. He chuckles, starting the car engine, “You made my entire week, Park Jihoon.”

Again, they let the music from the radio fill the silence between them. Jihoon like this, he thinks. He’s not one to want to have a conversation continuously going, it can get tiring sometimes. And the way he sees Daniel sneak secret glances at him and vice versa makes it all the more worth it.

“We’re here,” Daniel announces when he pulls up in front of Jihoon’s house.

Both of them get out of the car and stand outside Jihoon’s door dumbly, neither wanting to be the first to leave. At this point in time, Woojin seeing them is the last thing on Jihoon’s mind.

“So uh…” Daniel says, facing Jihoon whose back is leaning against his front door. “Did you like the flowers?”

“I loved them,” Jihoon replies. He’s never had a favourite flower, but now he does. “I especially loved the card that came with it.”

“That’s… a relief,” Daniel smiles awkwardly. “I thought about what would be good. I mean, I almost got the sunflowers because you’re like the sun. That’s really weird, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m acting like this either. And I almost got you roses, but I was worried it would be too cliché and you wouldn’t like them-“

“Daniel,” Jihoon interrupts before Daniel can ramble on any further. “Is there something you want to say?”

“Yes, yes there is.”

“Then say it.”

“I know you don’t know all there is to know about me yet. And I don’t know everything about you, but I truly like you. It’s strange because I’ve never had such strong feelings for someone I barely know, and you probably want to take this slow. But I can’t wait, I’m afraid. I’m afraid that you’re going to slip away from my fingers.”

When Daniel stops talking, Jihoon is left to stare at him, jaw agape.

The Daniel standing in front of him isn’t the one the rest of Korea sees. His gaze is no longer confident, rather more insecure and anxious. Jihoon knows Daniel is constantly glancing at him to check his reaction.

“Why… would I slip away?” Jihoon asks.

“Because,” Daniel takes Jihoon’s hand in his. Surprising, they are warm in comparison to the weather. “You’re you. You’re so beautiful and you don’t even know it. I’m afraid that someone else is going to beat me to telling you this, but I’m also afraid that once I tell you, you’re not going to feel the same way and I’ll still lose you.”

It’s baffling to Jihoon – that someone would ever think of him that way, much less the man that looks like he has everything in the world. 

He doesn’t believe that he’s worthy of Daniel’s confession, because he’ll never be on the same class as Daniel.

But they can figure that out later. 

All Jihoon wants to do now is to assure Daniel that he has absolutely nothing to worry about.

He is _not_ going to slip away from Kang Daniel.

Jihoon’s movements are awkward when he tiptoes to reach Daniel’s lips, but he manages. At first, Daniel freezes out of shock, then places his hands on Jihoon’s waist, allowing Jihoon to stay in a more comfortable position. 

Their kiss is nothing short of pure, innocent love. There’s no rush, no desperation present in it. They’re both enjoying the beauty of this moment, and the way their lips fit against each other. When Daniel breaks way to take a short breath, Jihoon makes sure to cup Daniel’s face in his hands and look at him straight in the eyes when he says, “You worry too much.”

“Do I?” Daniel replies, gently stroking Jihoon’s back. 

“You have nothing to worry about,” Jihoon assures Daniel, letting his hands trail to Daniel’s jawline and then down to his neck. Jihoon decides to discard the idea of the second kiss (they can do that next time) and pulls Daniel into a warm embrace instead.

Daniel buries his head into the crook of Jihoon’s neck, although it should be the other way around. But Jihoon lets him anyway, and pats his back softly.

“I’m just not used to letting someone get so close to me,” Daniel confesses. “I don’t know what their intentions are anymore. For my money? Or for my fame?”

“But with you, it’s like I can’t even be bothered to care. I naturally gravitate towards you,” Daniel says in a low whisper, and if it wasn’t in the silent of the night, Jihoon wouldn’t have heard it.

“Kang Daniel,” Jihoon’s says in a stern voice that makes him lift his head up to look at Jihoon again. 

“I like you for who you are, don’t doubt me. Okay?” 

Daniel nods fervently, “I know you would never get close to me for anything else. I just hope I don’t disappoint you.”

That night, Jihoon doesn’t just fall in love with Seoul’s richest man Kang Daniel, he also falls in love with the man behind the mask. He’s not disappointed, though, and he never will be. He thinks that the unsure, insecure and afraid Kang Daniel is as beautiful as the one he’s liked all along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon isn’t afraid to admit that the road to dating Kang Daniel is rocky, and sometimes not always unicorns and rainbows and sweet talking. They hit their first roadblock just two weeks after confessing to each other under the night sky.

Daniel had scheduled a dinner for them at a fancy Italian restaurant the night before, and Jihoon was excited. The truth was, Daniel had gotten really busy over the past week and they barely had time to meet, even on the weekends. So, Jihoon was bursting with happiness to finally see his boyfriend again.

Boyfriend, Jihoon internally cringes when the word appears in his mind. He hasn’t told anyone yet, not even Woojin. Daniel and himself had agreed to wait at least a month before telling anyone about their relationship.

It doesn’t work out quite the way they want it to go, because Jihoon is an open book. (or so his colleagues say.)

“Hyung,” Jinyoung greets merrily when Jihoon packs his bags that evening. “Are you dating someone recently?”

Shocked, Jihoon quickly puts a finger to Jihoon’s lips and looks around to make sure no one is eavesdropping on their conversation.

“N-no?” Jihoon replies, embarrassed that Jinyoung would even think to ask such a question. He tries to pass it off with awkward laughter, and adds, “What made you think so?”

“Well,” Jinyoung says, “You’re always smiling now. You’re even nicer to Sungwoon hyung in the morning. It’s like you’ve become a better person ever since you’ve fallen in love.”

“Do I?” Jihoon wonders aloud, then glares at Jinyoung when he realises he’s walked right into the trap his friend has laid out for him. “I am not in love, brat!”

They joke on the way down, and Jihoon wonders if Jinyoung is right. Has he become a happier person even without realising it himself ever since he and Daniel had started dating?

“Make sure to ask your boyfriend to buy you snacks instead. I heard Sungwoon hyung complain about you stealing his snacks from the pantry again this morning,” Jinyoung says, petting Jihoon’s shoulder when they reach the entrance of their company.

Seeing that Daniel isn’t here yet, Jihoon slings an arm around Jinyoung’s shoulder and says, “What’s he going to do? Fire me? Jinyoung ah, you should have stood up for your hyung.”

“It’s true though,” Jinyoung points out, “You steal my food too.”

Jihoon takes the opportunity to poke Jinyoung’s sides and he doesn’t even notice Daniel pulling up at the entrance. It’s only when Daniel honks – and draws the attention of everyone in the lobby.

“See you tomorrow,” Jihoon says, embarrassed when he untangles himself from Jinyoung’s grip (god damn, that boy is strong) and runs to the car, everyone’s stares following him. So much for secrecy, right?

“Hey,” Jihoon greets Daniel happily when he slides into the passenger seat. 

“I texted you,” Daniel says coldly as a reply, speeding off. Jihoon checks his messages, and indeed, Daniel did text him saying something like “I’m here”.

“I’m sorry,” Jihoon pouts. “I didn’t see it.”

“Yeah,” Daniel replies. “Because you were fooling around with some other boy in the lobby. Of course, you didn’t see it.”

Jihoon frowns, “Jinyoung? We weren’t fooling around. God, are you getting jealous about Jinyoung? He’s a colleague, a friend.”

“Which one is it?” Daniel demands. “A friend? Or just a colleague?”

“What?” Jihoon repeats, horrified at what Daniel’s even suggesting right now.

“Never mind. Forget it, let’s not spoil the night,” Daniel brushes him off, which of course, leaves Jihoon more irritated than before. Still, he lets the topic go because he doesn’t want to ruin tonight, their night.

Maybe he’s stressed, Jihoon thinks. They drive in icy silence to the restaurant after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bad night doesn’t end there. Judging from the way Daniel has a tighter-than-usual grip on Jihoon’s waist when they walk into the restaurant, he hasn’t let the previous topic go yet. Again, Jihoon lets him get away with it, attributing his strange attitude to the work stress. He understands, because he gets cranky when he’s under pressure as well.

It’s when the waitress accidentally tips over a cup of water when Daniel loses it.

“I-I’m really sorry,” the waitress immediately apologises, looking frightened when Daniel surveys her.

“It’s an expensive suit, couldn’t you have been more careful?” Daniel growls, and Jihoon quickly reaches under the table to grab his hand before this can escalate into anything more.

“It’s fine,” Jihoon smiles at the waitress. “Could you just fetch us some tissues? Thank you.”

When the waitress leaves them alone, Jihoon glares at Daniel and says, “The water barely touched you.”

“ _Still_ ,” Daniel insists, but doesn’t say anything more. Even under the bad lighting, Jihoon can see the dark circles that have formed under Daniel’s eyes and his anger fades away.

He gives Daniel’s hand a small squeeze, and asks, “Is anything wrong? Anything you want to talk about?”

For a moment, Daniel looks like he’s finally going to talk to Jihoon, and the waitress reappears with a dry cloth and tissues in her hand, forcing Jihoon to let Daniel’s hand go. When the mess is finally cleared, the magic of the moment is lost.

They order their food, and Jihoon thinks that’s where his bad luck ends.

But of course, it doesn’t. 

“You look very handsome today,” Jihoon comments when the food comes, knowing how well Daniel takes to compliments. He’s starving, and quickly digs in. 

Instead of a snarky comment like “only today?”, Jihoon only gets a small sigh in response. When he wants to ask Daniel what’s on his mind, Daniel’s phone decides to ring at that moment.

Jihoon’s sharp eye catches sight of the caller’s name on Daniel’s phone. It reads, “Hwang Minhyun”, and Daniel snatches it away from Jihoon’s sight almost immediately.

“Hello? Minhyun hyung!” Daniel greets in a cheerful voice, one that Jihoon hasn’t heard the entire night. Instead of telling whoever Hwang Minhyun is that he’s having a very important dinner with someone else (his boyfriend), Daniel stands up and leaves their private room to take the call outside.

The phone call lasts a whopping 20 minutes long, and when Daniel returns, Jihoon’s already finished his food and is fuming.

“Who was that?” Jihoon’s tone is chilly when Daniel returns, a smile evident on his face.

“Nobody,” Daniel replies, digging into his food, which Jihoon is sure is already cold.

“You talk awfully long on the phone with someone you refer to as nobody,” Jihoon comments, and Daniel quickly looks up at him. Jihoon knows it’s his anger speaking, his petty side. And even though Daniel was in a bad mood didn’t mean he had to be as well. 

“He _is_ nobody,” Daniel insists. “And don’t be so sarcastic.”

“Me? Sarcastic?” Jihoon chuckles. “So you can have other friends but I can’t? Was the phone call so important that you had to make me eat dinner alone?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Daniel sighs. “But now that you’ve raised a point, the phone call was important. Very important for the company.”

Jihoon crosses his arms, and although he knows he’s starting a fight he doesn’t know how to stop, he doesn’t care.

“Which is more important? Me? Or the phone call?”

Daniel puts down his fork dejectedly. “Jihoon, can we please not-“

“Please not what?” Jihoon replies, “I’ve been trying to be nice to you because I know you’re making the effort to take me out for dinner even though you’re tired. But it takes two hands to clap, I think we should do this another time. None of us are in the mood today, anyway.”

As much as it hurts to, Jihoon packs his bags and picks his coat up before he leaves. 

“Wait,” Daniel calls out behind him, breathing heavily as he follows Jihoon out of the restaurant. 

“What now?” Jihoon asks, already tired from arguing the entire night away. This was supposed to be a special night for the both of them, and he doesn’t understand how it could have gone so wrong.

“At least let me take you home,” Daniel says, already dragging Jihoon back towards the direction of his car.

“You don’t have to,” Jihoon says, only to let himself be seated in the car again.

“You might be pissed,” Daniel replies while still standing outside the car. “But you’re still my boyfriend. And I’m driving you home.” With that, he slams the car door shut and speeds off into the night.

This time, Jihoon doesn’t like it when the music on the radio fills the silence between them. He wants to talk to Daniel, find out what’s wrong, but he doesn’t know where to start.

Daniel doesn’t get out of the car when he pulls over at Jihoon’s house, and all Jihoon says is, “Let’s talk again when we’ve both calmed down.”

It feels empty and wrong, to return home without exchanging kisses with Daniel. He doesn’t expect Daniel to wait for him to go in before driving off, but he does. Deep down, he wants to turn back and make up with Daniel, but for now, they both need time to themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My favourite worker, Park Jihoon!” Sungwoon announces his presence by screaming into Jihoon’s ear, shocking him and the entire office. 

“You scared me,” Jihoon snaps, crushing up the piece of paper he’s been writing on and tosses it into the bin, which misses and lies on the floor, mocking Jihoon. “What is it? You have another job for me?”

“Why so snappy?” Sungwoon asks, curious. “Fought with your boyfriend?”

Jihoon knows what Jinyoung means now. Daniel affects his mood; it’s unavoidable. Ever since their fight two nights ago, they’ve been giving each other the silent treatment. Jihoon has talked himself out of texting Daniel first – it’s his ego talking, he knows.

The truth is, work the past few days has been crappy. Nothing is going right for Jihoon, nothing he writes seems to turn out well. 

“Well,” Sungwoon says, a knowing smile appears on his face when Jihoon doesn’t reply. “Whatever the reason, you’ll be happy to know that the magazine you did the interview on Kang Daniel came out today, and they’re selling like hot cakes!”

The name “Kang Daniel” does hit a sore spot, but Jihoon manages a smile.

“Really?” the news does brighten him up a little. “That’s amazing.”

“It is!” Sungwoon affirms. “We’re having a company dinner tonight, you should come. To celebrate your success and drown your sorrows in alcohol.”

Before Jihoon can argue that he has no “sorrows to drown”, Sungwoon gives him a reassuring pat on his shoulder and goes to spread the word of the company dinner to his other colleagues, to which they cheer in response to.

A celebratory dinner doesn’t sound so bad – he needs something else to do at night other than stressing over whether he should text his boyfriend first or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon immediately regrets his decision when he steps into the restaurant Sungwoon has booked. He recognises some people, and takes a seat beside Jinyoung.

“You came too late,” Jinyoung says, “You missed Sungwoon hyung doing a pole dance on the table because he got drunk too early.”

“What do you mean?” Jihoon chuckles, sneaking a glance at his manager whose hands are all over Jisung, who looks very disgusted. “I’m glad I missed it.”

Jihoon knows he’s doomed when Sungwoon spots him from across the table, and yells, “If it isn’t the man of the evening! Here, pour yourself a glass of soju!”

He respectfully accepts Sungwoon’s pour, and the other ten cups of soju that his colleagues had somehow managed to coax him into drinking. It’s too late when Jihoon realises that he should never agree to drinking when Sungwoon is around, because the man is persistent in insisting that Jihoon hasn’t had enough drinks.

Jihoon almost kisses Jisung out of gratefulness when Jisung announces that the party is over and drags Sungwoon out the door over his shoulder. His other colleagues start to flock out of the restaurant as well.

Jihoon can take his alcohol pretty well, but this time, he is feeling a little lightheaded. He could take a cab home, but he doesn’t trust himself to not fall asleep in it. And god knows what could happen if he passed out in a cab.

He fishes out his phone from his pocket and scrolls through his contacts absentmindedly. His best friend is an asshole, but Woojin would never leave him to fend for himself.

When Woojin picks up, Jihoon says, “Hey, Woojin. I know it’s late, don’t kill me. But I really need you to come get me. I had this crazy company dinner and you know my manager, the evil one, he made me drink like 3 bottles of soju.”

Woojin remains silent, and Jihoon prays that he isn’t mad. He braces himself for a week’s worth of nagging from his best friend, and hesitantly prompts, “Woojin? You there?”

“Jihoon.”

That’s not Woojin’s voice, Jihoon notices. 

“It’s Daniel.”

 _Oh, crap_. Jihoon holds the phone away from his face, and yeah, Daniel’s name shows up on his screen. He mentally slaps himself and sighs while running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Crap. Sorry, wrong number.”

This isn’t how he was planning to contact Daniel first.

“Hey. Don’t- don’t ‘crap, wrong number’ me. Don’t you dare hang up on me, Park Jihoon. Where are you right now?” 

Jihoon chews on his lower lip, “No, don’t bother. Woojin will come and get me.”

“Tell me where you are,” Daniel ignores Jihoon’s pleads. “Or I’ll call the entire police force in Seoul to search for you. I’m not joking around.”

Jihoon sighs, because he knows Daniel isn’t joking. He takes a glimpse at the signboard outside the shop and recites the name to Daniel.

“Okay, I’m coming,” Daniel replies, and Jihoon can hear him getting into a car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon’s playing absentmindedly with a trail of ants he found near the entrance of the shop when two bright headlights shine into his eyes. He hears someone getting out of the car hurriedly and come to a stop in front of him.

“Park Jihoon,” he hears Daniel say. 

It’s been so long since Jihoon has heard his voice. (it’s been two days, but you get it)

“You’re such a handful,” chides Daniel. “Come here.”

He lets himself into Daniel’s arms and buries his face into Daniel’s chest. He’s wearing a soft hoodie, which makes his face feel warm and nice. Daniel holds him like that for a few seconds.

“I’m still mad at you,” Jihoon says, his voice muffled because Daniel’s hugging him too tight (but he’s not complaining) “I’m just cold. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel says, stroking his hair. “Let’s go.”

Daniel leads Jihoon into the backseat, and he asks, “You didn’t drive?”

“I drank too, so I called a cab,” Daniel explains, pulling Jihoon closer to him. Daniel tells the driver Jihoon’s address, and they speed off.

Jihoon knows the alcohol is getting to his brain, but it doesn’t stop him from playing with the strings of Daniel’s hoodie and mumbling, “I hate you, Kang Daniel. You’re really annoying. And cute.”

“I’m sorry,” Daniel finally whispers into his ear. “I’m really sorry about that day.”

“You were so mean to me,” Jihoon whines. “I hated you then.”

Then, Daniel rests his chin on top of Jihoon’s head and allows Jihoon to rest on his shoulder. “I said I’m sorry. Forgive me? Pleeaaseee.”

“You did come and get me,” Jihoon notes, smiling to himself. “Fine, you are half forgiven.”

In response, Daniel places soft kisses all over Jihoon’s face, his forehead, cheeks, nose and finally ending with his lips. 

“This is nice,” Jihoon says, now feeling sleepy and comfortable enough to let his eyelids close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon doesn’t realise he’s fallen asleep until he feels Daniel dragging him out of the cab and struggles to open his eyes. He’s feeling more lightheaded than before, and mentally reminds himself to tell Sungwoon there’s no way he’s going to be able to make it to work in 5 hours. Then again, he’s not even sure if Sungwoon himself is going to be sober enough to come in to work.

“You’re heavy,” he hears Daniel mumble under his breath.

He gently hits Daniel’s chest, “I heard that.”

When they reach Jihoon’s door, Daniel knocks. It takes a few seconds for Woojin to open the door, first looking mad that someone’s waking him up at 1 in the morning, then confused when he sees Jihoon practically clinging onto Daniel for support.

“Hey Woojin,” Jihoon tries to greet his friend as normally as he can. “This is Daniel. You know who Daniel is.”

“I don’t, I really don’t, fucking idiot.” Woojin sighs. “But come in, his room is on the right. I’ll get him some water.”

Woojin helps Daniel carry Jihoon to the room because Jihoon, for the life of him, can’t get his legs to function properly. When Woojin leaves, Jihoon lets out a giggle.

“I got you to my room,” he comments, looking at Daniel, who just stares at him like he’s said something out of the norm.

“I was right; that time I said you were a pervert. You _are_ a pervert,” Daniel replies.

“I am not!” Jihoon protests, pulling Daniel’s arm and getting him to sit closer to Jihoon so that he can put his head on Daniel’s lap.

Daniel bends down, smiling while showing all his teeth, before connecting their lips together. Jihoon doesn’t even have time to think about how he probably tastes like alcohol right now, because Daniel tastes so good.

Again, it’s only been two days, but Jihoon feels like it’s been forever. He wraps his hands around Daniel’s neck to deepen the kiss.

When they part to take breaths, Jihoon says, “You should sleep here tonight.”

“Not too fast,” Daniel warns Jihoon with a smirk on his face. “Slow down, princess.”

“Shut up,” Jihoon says, glaring at Daniel. “I was being nice. You drank too, and I feel bad for making you always go back home alone.”

Daniel chuckles, pinching Jihoon’s cheeks. Normally, he hates it when anyone else touches his cheeks, but it’s Daniel.

“Woojin wouldn’t mind?” Daniel asks.

“Of course not,” Jihoon says. Woojin manages to walk into the room at that time, with a cup of water in his hand and hangover pills in another. “Woojin, would you mind if Daniel stays over?”

Woojin takes one look at Jihoon in Daniel’s lap, rolls his eyes and says, “Whatever floats your boat.”

“Thanks, babe!” Jihoon calls after his best friend sarcastically.

“Shut the fuck up!” Woojin yells back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Jihoon is finally sober enough to hold a proper conversation with Daniel, they lie in bed, Jihoon’s head resting on Daniel’s arm.

“That day…” he starts saying. “Were you stressed? Work?”

Daniel nods, “I’m sorry. Stuff happened… I shouldn’t have brought my bad mood to our dinner. I didn’t mean to say those things to you.”

Jihoon finds Daniel’s hand under the covers and holds it tight. 

“Next time, talk to me about it, okay? Good things, bad things, I want to hear them all.”

“Okay,” Daniel agrees and scoots closer to Jihoon. “Are you going to work tomorrow?”

“Nope,” Jihoon replies. “I’m probably going to have a massive headache when I wake up.”

“Nice, looks like I’m stuck babying you the entire day tomorrow,” Daniel sighs, playing with Jihoon’s hair. 

“What about your work?” Jihoon asks.

“It’s fine. I can take some time off to take care of my boyfriend, can’t I?” Daniel says, and even though it’s dark, Jihoon knows he’s grinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's it, that's all the angst in this story. 
> 
> ugh nielwink is THAT couple that can't argue for too long because they'll miss each other too much.
> 
> i have one final chapter + the epilogue left so yeah, i hope you've enjoyed this story so far :D
> 
> once again, thank u for all the love!! you guys r the best <3


	5. not an update! (i need your help)

this is not an update for this story.

thing is... i need your help :(

i've been alerted by a few people that there is someone on Wattpad impersonating me and reposting my stories 'Baby Steps' and 'Nothing About You is Real' without any credit. Not only have they taken my works without any permission, they are also pretending to be me. 

I do not have a Wattpad account for my stories. 

I have only just created a temporary account there to report the author for plagiarism. 

 

**If you can help me, please help me alert the other readers in the comments on Wattpad that @xxxibgraim on Wattpad is plagarizing my works and also help me spread the news on twitter that i do not have a Wattpad account.**

 

It pains me to see my hard work being claimed by someone else so easily... so please help me if you've ever enjoyed my stories just once :(

i really appreciate all the love on my stories, but plagiarism is really not the way to show your love. 

thank you all in advance for helping me.

 

love always, bapaldeul


	6. something more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and they live happily ever after

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end.

“Good news,” Sungwoon announces when he walks over to Jihoon’s table one morning. Jihoon forces a smile, knowing not to expect much when it comes to Sungwoon’s “good news”. 

“You don’t look happy,” Sungwoon notices. “What’s wrong? Has the passion in you burnt out so quickly?”

Jihoon shakes his head, sighing, “I wish you would let me write a proper news story. But I guess I’m stuck writing for the tabloid forever.”

Sungwoon frowns, and says, “What makes you think so?”

“Well, ever since my story on Daniel-“ Jihoon pauses and corrects himself (because well, he has to be professional at work.) “I mean, Kang Daniel, blew up, you’ve been making me write other stories for our tabloid too.”

Jihoon understands, it’s a credibility thing. Since he’s been recognised for his one-of-a-kind articles on Daniel, the public probably wants him to be the one to write the future articles as well. He’s honoured – to be recognised for his works.

But this isn’t what he wants to be recognised for. He wants to be out there, in the outside world, running furiously beside the other reporters and struggling to get the best shot of the hottest news story of that morning.

“Well, seeing you’re that resigned to your fate I think it’s fine if you don’t help me with covering the Seoul Music and Arts Festival tomorrow,” Sungwoon pats Jihoon on the shoulder and walks away.

Wait, what?

“Hyung!” Jihoon yells from across the newsroom, drawing the attention of all his colleagues. Sungwoon turns around, a small smile tugging at the end of his lips.

“Yes, Jihoon?” his manager asks with the same sweet (evil) smile.

Jihoon runs to catch up with Sungwoon, and when he finally stops in front of the other man, he says, “I want to do it. Let me cover that festival, please.”

The Seoul Music and Arts festival is only the biggest music festival to take place in Seoul every year. It’s popular with people of all ages, especially the youths. Jihoon himself has never been to one, and he’s only heard good things about this event.

Being there to cover the event would be like a dream come true.

“Please,” Jihoon pleads again, tugging on Sungwoon’s shirt. 

Finally, Sungwoon nods. “We’re having a meeting in 15 minutes. I’ll see you in my office.”

Jihoon resists the urge to dance when Sungwoon walks away. This miracle is too amazing to keep to himself, so Jihoon whips out his handphone.

_To: Daniel_  
_Omg!! My manager just asked me to cover Seoul Music and Arts Festival! AAAHHHH_

_From: Daniel_  
_That’s amazing :D I’m so happy for you baby!_

_To: Daniel_  
_Goodbye tabloid writer Jihoon!_

_From: Daniel_  
_What a shame, I liked tabloid writer Jihoon :( he was cute._

_To: Daniel_  
_Shut up, I have to go to a meeting. See you tonight? :)_

_From: Daniel_  
_Okie. I love youuuuu have a good day_

Jihoon stuffs his phone back into his pockets and rushes into Sungwoon’s office. (Better early than on time, he thinks). A few of his colleagues have already gathered, and he sees some familiar faces in the room as well.

He settles into a chair and waits in anticipation as Sungwoon walks into the room and closes the door behind him.

“Attention, everyone,” Sungwoon says, and the chatter in the room dies down immediately. 

His manager briefs everyone on the order of events at the festival, and starts assigning people to different jobs.

“We’ll be having Seonho and Guanlin cover the food area. There are over a hundred stalls, so make sure you get good pictures, and unbiased reviews,” Sungwoon continues, and the two journalists nod excitedly. Jihoon recognises them as the partners always covering the food section in their news and magazines.

“Next, Jihoon,” Sungwoon clears his throat. The room falls silent again.

“I’m sure most of you know Jihoon as one of the writers from our tabloid magazine. It’s his first time covering a big event like this, so do guide him along if you see him looking lost tomorrow,” Sungwoon adds, and Jihoon shoots him a grateful smile. 

To Jihoon, Sungwoon says, “You’ll be covering the acts. Familiarise yourself with the line-up. You can go with Jinyoung, ask around if you need any help.”

Jihoon is practically bursting with excitement when Sungwoon ends the meeting. He and Jinyoung go over what their plan is for tomorrow, and Jihoon does some extra research on the acts that are going to perform. Some of them he’s heard of – some not really. Either way, this is going to be his breaking point; and he can’t wait for tomorrow to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s nice to know that Daniel is as happy for Jihoon as he is for himself. Daniel easily matches Jihoon’s level of excitement when they meet up for dinner that night.

“Can you believe my name is going to appear next to my article in the paper?” Jihoon says while stuffing his face with the curry rice that Daniel said he was craving. Jihoon too, is starving now after the excitement in his stomach has died down a little and is replaced with hunger.

“You deserve it,” Daniel says, then reminds Jihoon, “Don’t talk with your mouth full, you’re going to choke.”

Jihoon closes his mouth in surprise, suddenly noticing how un-proper he looks in front of Daniel. 

Daniel smiles, not minding.

“What about you? How has work been treating you?” Jihoon asks, now aware of how much he’s been talking about himself and Daniel has just been listening. 

“Good,” Daniel nods while shoving a big spoon of rice into his mouth. (Sometime Jihoon feels like he’s the older one in this relationship because he has to specially ask Daniel out for dinner or he knows Daniel is never going to be able to tear himself away from work.)

“I closed a deal just a week ago,” Daniel points out, smiling to himself as he remembers.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jihoon pouts. “We should have celebrated.”

“It’s a secret deal,” Daniel teases, wiggling his eyebrows. “You’ll probably find out soon, anyway.”

Daniel has a smirk on his face, meaning there’s an underlying meaning to his words. Jihoon sighs, “Whatever that means. Let’s finish up – I have research I want to do at home.”

They finish their dinner in good time, and Daniel sends Jihoon to his doorstep with a kiss on his forehead and a wish for good luck tomorrow. When Jihoon lies in bed that night after sending a goodnight message to Daniel, he really wonders how he could’ve gotten so lucky in life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Covering events is a frenzy – but a good one, Jihoon learns. Since it’s large-scale, there are hundreds of other news sites and bloggers at the place itself, making it easy for Jihoon to feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, Jinyoung who is familiar with covering events of similar scale, leads him in the right direction.

“How is it like, hyung?” Jinyoung asks after they properly set up their tripods and test all their equipment. There are only 10 minutes left to the start of the performing acts, and the venue is starting to fill up quickly. “Covering events, I mean.”

“Amazing,” Jihoon marvels. He no longer has to feel suffocated by following celebrities around, or out-of-place at a conference he knows nothing about.

“You’re lucky. I heard the festival wasn’t going to take place this year because their original sponsor backed out last-minute,” Jinyoung comments.

“What happened?” Jihoon replies, shocked.

“A secret sponsor stepped in, and the show went on,” Jinyoung explains while the emcee goes on stage to entertain the audience before the first act makes their appearance. “Pretty cool, if you ask me.”

Jihoon heaves a sigh of relief – who knew that he was this close to missing out this opportunity? He silently thanks the secret sponsor in his heart as the first act takes their stage.

The crowd cheers, and Jihoon feels his heart soar with them. If this is the way it’s going to feel while covering every event, he’s sure as hell he’s going to beg Sungwoon to sign him up for more of this.

The first act is a popular rookie boyband, JBJ. He’s heard of them before; but never their music until yesterday. He thanks the heavens for this opportunity. Not only does he get to go to festivals like these, he gets to discover new artistes and music at the same time.

Jinyoung takes his position at the camera – and Jihoon takes charge of the writing. He could really get used to this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the first half of the performance ends, Jinyoung taps on Jihoon’s shoulder urgently.

“Hyung, I’m going to head to the washroom, alright?”

Jihoon nods his head, keeping the camera safe in his arms as his colleague rushes off. He looks through Jinyoung’s pictures – and they’re so pretty. It’s no wonder that Sungwoon assigns him as a photographer to cover events all the time.

As he’s looking through his work to make sure that his notes are in order, someone slings an arm around his shoulder. Jihoon thinks it’s Jinyoung, who returned from the bathroom, and frowns when he comes face to face with a stranger.

The man is wearing sunglasses, a mask around his mouth and a black cap.

“W-what? Who are you?” Jihoon gasps in shock, quickly pulling away from the man’s grip.

The man stretches his arm to touch Jihoon again, and he retreats two steps backwards. Who was this creep, and where the hell was Jinyoung?

“I-I’m warning you,” Jihoon says (although he’s sure his tone is anything but threatening), “I have a boyfriend, and he won’t hesitate to throw you in jail.”

“Boyfriend?” the man answers as he cocks his head sideways. Jihoon can’t see the sneer on his face, but he sure hears it in his voice when he adds, “Where is he now, then?”

The man’s voice sounds familiar, but it’s muffled partly from the mask he’s wearing so Jihoon doesn’t pay any attention to it. His arms are already reaching back for his phone.

“If you come any closer, I’ll hit you,” Jihoon says.

The stranger doesn’t listen, and only continues in his advances to Jihoon. Jihoon gets ready to shout for help and charges towards the stranger with his fists.

His right fist lands right on the stranger’s chest, which induces a low groan.

“Stop- stop it!” the stranger growls, holding Jihoon’s arms together with sheer strength. Jihoon gets ready to shout for help when the stranger pulls of his mask and sunglasses to reveal a familiar face.

“I am your boyfriend, damn it!”

“Daniel?” Jihoon says to the last person he expects to be here. “What are you doing here?”

“You pack quite a punch,” Daniel finally lets go of Jihoon’s hands and rubs the place on his chest where Jihoon had punched him. He then grins sheepishly, “But it’s nice to know you have so much faith in me, your wonderful boyfriend.”

“I’m not sorry,” Jihoon mumbles. “You haven’t answered me yet, why are you here?”

“Can’t I be here just to see my lovely boyfriend?”

The glare from Jihoon tells Daniel he’s not going to gain anything by playing around right now, so he whispers, “I sponsored this event.”

Jihoon manages to stay quiet with the help of Daniel covering his mouth with his hand.

“You’re the secret sponsor?” Jihoon says, voice muffled by Daniel’s hand.

“Shh,” Daniel says, taking his hand down wraps his arm around Jihoon’s waist instead. “People can’t know, that’s why I had to dress like this. Sorry for scaring you, by the way. You look so focused on your work I couldn’t help but want to tease you.”

Jihoon remembers Jinyoung talking about the secret sponsor who’d magically saved this event. Of course, the only person kind enough to sponsor an event like this would be Kang Daniel.

“Oh,” is all Jihoon has to say in response to Daniel’s confession. 

“Hyung?”

Jihoon turns around to find Jinyoung looking straight at Daniel’s arm around his waist and realises he has some introducing to do.

“Oh, hey Jinyoung. This is-“

“Kang Daniel, I know,” Jinyoung smiles, holding his hand out. “You’re our office’s saviour. Thanks to you, Jihoon hyung has been less cranky.”

Daniel takes Jinyoung’s hand. He grins cheekily down at Jihoon. “Really? You’re happier because of me?”

“He can’t stop talking about how lucky he is to have met you,” Jinyoung sighs, “I’m going to die because of the cheesiness.”

Jihoon feels his cheeks tinge red – and it’s not even because of the weather. Also, how could Bae Jinyoung betray him just like that? It’s not like he’s always talking about Daniel to his friend. (Maybe just once, or twice, and a few more times.)

“Why do you never say that to my face?” Daniel pouts. 

“You have to go,” Jihoon says, unlatching himself from Daniel’s arm and proceeds to push him away from Jinyoung’s view. “Jinyoung and I are really busy, and people are going to see you if you stay here any longer.”

Daniel gives Jihoon a pleading look that says he wants to say longer, but puts his mask and sunglasses back on. Before he leaves, he pushes two cards into Jihoon’s hands.

“Backstage passes,” Daniel explains quickly. “Come with Jinyoung after the show ends.”

“Are you crazy? Can you give these out so easily?”

Daniel shrugs as he gives Jihoon one last hug. “What can I say? There are too many privileges to dating me.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon’s heart is thumping when the security guards backstage scrutinize their backstage passes and finally let them through. Being backstage is definitely different from being in the crowd. It feels exclusive and unfamiliar.

“Wow,” Jinyoung gushes as they’re being led somewhere. “I’ve covered a few events, but I never had the chance to go backstage. Daniel hyung is amazing.”

Jihoon feels his heart swell with pride. (Yes, he’s thinking. That’s my boyfriend you’re talking about!)

The security guard knocks on a door at the end of the hallway and mentions Jihoon’s name. Immediately, the door is opened and reveals Daniel and another man in the room.

“Jihoon and Jinyoung!” Daniel greets, motioning for them to come in.

Jihoon takes a seat next to Jinyoung on the couch, and Daniel points to the main next to him.

“This is Minhyun hyung, he’s the official organiser of this event.”

They shake his hand, and Jihoon says, “Thank you so much for having us here.”

“It’s all thanks to Daniel that the festival could go on. I should only be nice to his boyfriend. Also, I apologise about interrupting your dinner with Daniel that one time. He mentioned you were pretty angry about that,” Minhyun replies, the soft smile never leaving his face the entire time.

Jihoon remembers his voice from somewhere. That’s when it hits him.

The very first time Jihoon met Daniel – Minhyun was there. Minhyun was the man Daniel met on the rooftop. It all makes sense now.

“Ah, no,” Jihoon says in embarrassment. “Daniel was being bratty that night.”

Minhyun chuckles, “I understand completely. You can head down to the waiting rooms of the artistes; I told them you guys would be coming to interview them. You don’t mind doing last-minute interviews, do you?”

Jihoon can’t believe his ears, and he knows Jinyoung feels the same.

“Up close interviews? Us?” Jinyoung repeats. 

“Of course,” Minhyun says. “Daniel can take Jihoon, I’ll take Jinyoung. After that, please feel free to patronize all our food booths. Show your backstage passes and they’ll give you the food free-of-charge.”

If it isn’t the interviews he’s scored with the legendary acts, it’s the free food that catches Jihoon’s attention. 

“Don’t worry, Jihoon is really good at last-minute interviews,” Daniel says, flashing a knowing smile at Jihoon that makes his face burn up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Stop,” Jihoon says as Daniel’s hands approach the doorknob of one of the artiste’s waiting room. He places a hand on his wildly beating chest. “I’m so nervous.”

“What are you nervous about?” Daniel chides, but places his hand on Jihoon’s back to calm his nerves anyway. 

“I’m about to interview an actual celebrity,” Jihoon whispers under his breath.

“You interviewed me,” Daniel points out. “I’m kind of a celebrity too.”

“Shut up,” Jihoon says, but smiles anyway as he starts to feel his tense muscles relax. Daniel takes that as the cue to open the door, revealing the charismatic band from before in their waiting room.

The band comprises Kim Jaehwan (lead singer and guitarist), Ong Seongwoo (drummer), Jung Sewoon (bassist) and Lee Daehwi (keyboardist). Jihoon is glad he did really thorough research before today. He even realises that he’s into their music – they were even better live before.

“Hi guys,” Daniel greets the band casually as if they’re his friends. Jihoon freaks out. 

“This is Jihoon, a journalist from the news agency I told you about. He’s here for a short interview, if that’s okay.”

The band agrees immediately, a chorus of ‘of course’ and ‘yeah sure’ ensues. Their managers arrange the chairs for the interview as Jihoon prepares his questions with shaky fingers. He knows he’s supposed to look professional, but he can’t help feeling nervous in front of such famous people.

“We’re ready!” the band says and wave Jihoon over. He heaves a sigh of relief, at least they seem nice.

Jihoon shakes their hands individually and introduces himself again.

“Thank you so much for agreeing to this,” Jihoon says. “I won’t take up too much of your time, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the drummer, Ong Seongwoo says. “We owe it all to Daniel that we could play again at this festival this year.”

Jihoon chews on his lower lip nervously, remembering how he thought the band’s drummer actually looked very charismatic on stage just now. He shuts his useless thoughts and forces a smile.

“Did I hear my name?” Daniel calls out from the couch.

“It’s nothing, hyung!” the keyboardist, Lee Daehwi says back. He turns to look at Jihoon, “Daniel hyung told us all about you. Don’t be nervous – we’re good with interviews.”

The thought of Daniel just talking about him to other people makes Jihoon blush, and he hopes it isn’t obvious.

Without warning, Daniel yells, “Ong Seongwoo, you should change your spot to sit at the end, away from Jihoon! He’s been staring at you since your performance, I don’t want my boyfriend falling in love with someone else.”

Jihoon almost chokes on thin air as the band erupts in laughter.

“Are you going to keep staying in the room?” Jihoon clears his throat and ignores Daniel’s previous remark.

“Why? Am I distracting you?” Daniel grins.

Jihoon sighs, and wonders why he’s dating an actual 6-year-old. He turns back to the band, all smiles this time as he says, “Shall we begin?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon thinks he’s in heaven. He’s not referring to the fact that Daniel is holding his hand, but the reality that is the 100 food stalls standing in front of him. He’s really going to ask Sungwoon to sign him up for more of such events.

“What should we get first?” Daniel asks, looking around, also in a dilemma of what to try eating first.

Jihoon spots Guanlin and Seonho nearby, stuffing their faces with fried pork cutlets. By the satisfied looks on their faces, he knows that’s something they have to start with. Also, he trusts their official food blogger’s taste buds more than he trusts his own.

Unfortunately, it’s too late to turn around when Jihoon gets closer to the store and spots Sungwoon next to the two.

“Park Jihoon, I saw you. Don’t try running away from me,” Sungwoon calls out just as Jihoon turns and tries leading Daniel away, preferably the food store furthest away from Sungwoon.

“Hi hyung,” Jihoon greets his manager with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sungwoon nods. “Going on a date during working hours?”

Daniel laughs, which isn’t helping in their situation at all.

“But hyung,” Jihoon whines (he knows it doesn’t really work on his manager, but still.) “I got interviews with the artistes.”

“You did?” another voice quips from behind Seonho and Guanlin as Jisung makes his appearance, face also stuffed with pork cutlets and god knows what else. Great, the whole office is here to witness Jihoon being lovey-dovey with Kang Daniel.

“Oh well,” Sungwoon shrugs, “I guess you get to go on your date, then.” 

“I sent the list of food stores that are worth trying to our group chat, you can check them out!” Guanlin offers helpfully. Jihoon doesn’t know whether he should thank Guanlin or be concerned that he and Seonho have already managed to try all 100 food stalls before nightfall. 

Jihoon bids goodbye to his colleagues for the day and makes Daniel try out the nitrogen ice-cream; just for fun. They have their laughs, and Jihoon takes a lot of pictures.

“They have really good ramen down the road, shall we have that?” Jihoon points out, going down the list Guanlin had sent and deciding which they should eat. 

(He might pride himself in being a big eater, but he’s sure there’s no way they’re going to be able to try food from all 70 stores Guanlin recommends.)

“Anything is fine as long as I’m with you.”

“You’re so gross,” Jihoon says, but smiles anyway. He snuggles in closer to Daniel, feeling double the warmth when he does.

“You’re the one that told your colleague you were so lucky to have me in your life,” Daniel points out. “Why do you never say that to me?”

Jihoon replies, “Because I’m embarrassed.”

Daniel stops in his tracks, not caring about the people they’re blocking the path for. Jihoon looks into his eyes; and remembers the first day they’d met. He wouldn’t doubt for a second that he’d fallen in love from the very first second.

“Okay. Then I’ll say it first. Park Jihoon, I am so lucky to have you in my life.”

Nope, no. Definitely no doubts. The embarrassment he’d felt from before also disappears.

Jihoon tip-toes just to wrap his hands around Daniel’s neck in a warm hug.

“Kang Daniel, I am luckier to have you in my life.”

Daniel’s hands rest perfectly on Jihoon’s back. With Daniel, it’s always been something more. His good days are always something more when Daniel is in it. On an extra good day like this, it’s made even more perfect when Daniel hugs him and presses soft kisses on his cheeks. 

“I love you,” he whispers just for Daniel to hear.

Jihoon knows Daniel hears him from the way Daniel’s lips part to repeat the exact same words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**EPILOGUE**

 

“No!” Daniel whines as he trashes his legs childishly on his office table. “I refuse!”

Jihoon hopes that none of the staff in Daniel’s company ever see him like this, because even after a year of dating him, he still can’t believe a 6-year-old is entrusted to manage such a huge company like ‘Kangs’.

“You have no say in this,” Jihoon snaps, pouring himself a cup of hot chocolate that has been sitting on Daniel’s drawer since day 1 since Daniel is obviously not in the mood to pour his boyfriend a drink. “I just told you in advance because I knew you were going to react like this.”

“I’ll bribe him,” Daniel says, standing up suddenly as if he has a genius idea to propose. “You don’t have to do the interview.”

“I want to do the interview,” Jihoon blinks innocently.

“Jihoon!” Daniel whines as if he’s just been shot in the back by Jihoon.

Jihoon sips on the hot chocolate. It’s thick and warm, just the way Jihoon likes it. One thing he prides himself in is having a boyfriend that can make a mean hot chocolate.

“What? It’s just an interview, we’re not going to kiss and fall in love or anything.”

“But he’s handsome!” Daniel argues.

“And you don’t trust me?” Jihoon sighs and takes a seat. Petty arguments like this tire him out more than Sungwoon and Jisung combined.

“I don’t trust him,” Daniel shudders. “Handsome people can’t be trusted.”

“Explains why I don’t have a tiny bit of trust in you at all.”

Jihoon can’t help it; the moment is too perfect to let the comment slip. He cringes right after he says it, which means that Daniel is grinning at the exact same comment.

“Really? You think I’m handsome?”

“Daniel, we’ve been dating for a year. Of course I think you’re handsome.”

Finally, Daniel sits down and cuddles close to Jihoon’s side. If Jihoon wasn’t dating a 6-year-old stuck in a grown man’s body, he’s dating a lap dog, Daniel continues to play with the hem of Jihoon’s shirt as he sighs, “Are you really going to interview him?”

“I know he’s your company’s competitor’s boss, but there’s really nothing I can do when Sungwoon assigns me to jobs like these,” Jihoon says, running his fingers through Daniel’s hair because he knows Daniel likes it.

“Fine,” Daniel finally relents. “I won’t let you off if you fall in love with him or something.”

Jihoon laughs, “Please. Who else would put up with you if not me?”

And it’s true. Daniel knows it, and Jihoon knows it.

No else other than Jihoon is going to put up with Daniel’s childish argument and his undying love for Harry Potter movies. No one is going to buy him 10 packets of Haribos at the supermarket and risk being judged by everyone else just because their boyfriend needs to “restock their supply”.

And no one else other than Daniel is going to put up with Jihoon’s constant mood swings and need to have fried chicken at that one specific restaurant at least once a week. No one is going to dress up in pink from head to toe just to match couple looks because their boyfriend simply “wants to try it out at least once”.

No one is going to love Daniel as much as Jihoon does, and no one is going to love Jihoon as much as Daniel does – and they’re both more than okay with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all; thank you so much for making it till the end. 
> 
> i really wasn't expecting much with this story (it was more for me to have somewhere to dump my fluffy feelings into) but you guys gave it so much love from the start and made it something even more special for me.
> 
> i'm not the best writer; i have so much to improve on, but thank you if you've ever read my stories once and liked them, it really means a lot to me <3
> 
> this story may be over, but please look out for my other ones :D
> 
> once again, thank you for reading. i love you all so much. always take care and i'll see you guys next time!
> 
> love, bapaldeul <3


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